My little homeschooling part of the world. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Grace/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Wed, 27 Sep 2006 11:58:00 -0500 Wed, 27 Sep 2006 11:58:00 -0500 Okay, so I don't know what I'm doing.  I thought I would like to see if this works.  The Malachi House is a wonderful ministry here in a local city that helps men released from prison to get a job and get back into society through Jesus!  This search engine gives a portion (50%) of their profits to the organizations choosen.  Neat idea!  Give it a try!  Support the Malachi House on Allgive.com. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Grace/210074/ Wed, 27 Sep 2006 11:58:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Grace/210074/     I was so thrilled!  My 9yo, Caleb, sat down and read most of the book "Betty Greene" this evening because he wanted to!  Yeah!  I've waited for this day.  What he didn't know...I have assigned him this book to read this week!  (He's almost finished in one evening.  It's only 32 pages, but Wow!)    Betty Greene is a modern heroes book put out by YWAM Publishing.  She was a missionary pilot.  I like these books because they have lots of pictures...very colorful.  The writing is on one page and the pictures are mainly on the facing page...although they spread into the page with the print on it.  The children are able to read about real world heroes!  Betty had determination, a very good character trait to learn about.~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~     I've been filling out my children's assignments in Homeschool Tracker Plus.  It's so very time consuming!  I feel like I'm doing IEPs!  Maybe I should just go back to the old-fashioned calendar-looking spread on paper.~@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~@~~~~     It's so neat, I talked with my 16yo, Ian, about one of his classes today.  He helped me decide which topic he would be more interested in.  I am trying to use a little from the book "Senior High A Home Designed Formula."  We are thinking about an literature course for this semester and an Expository Writing course for next semester.  For the lit course, I have this wonderful book that's meant as a teacher's reference.  It outlines over 100 great writers from all over the world.  Each writer has approximately 3 pages.  Now this is exciting for me!  We read in the "Senior High  A Home Designed Formula" that they used a book called "The Great American Bathroom Classics."  This book has a synopsis of great writings on two pages each!  I asked him if he would rather read the two page synopses of stories or the 3 page synopses of the authors.  He choose the stories.  So, I need to find that book.  I told him that I would still like him to do several of the writers anyway.  I really would like him to know who Homer, Aristotle, John Milton, Yeats, etc. are; so, we decided that he would do a few of the writers, too.      It's nice when the children don't fuss about learning new things.  I have 3 very motivated students this year.  My youngest for the first time is starting the sad look when I ask him to read or write, etc.  I'm going to try to nip it in the bud somehow.  Maybe have some exciting activities and have him bite the bullet and do the stuff he may not enjoy so much right now, too.  Maybe I should just have a talk with him about his attitude.  I know it's hard after a full summer off to start back and "have to" get things done.  We're back to no video games until Friday afternoon after 4pm.  So there is a little wandering around going on.  (This is the same one who sat down this evening and read "Betty Greene.")~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~   Off to bed!  Ciao! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Grace/200604/ Mon, 11 Sep 2006 22:31:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Grace/200604/     We had a wonderful time learning this summer about Japan and our exchange student's life and language. We had a meal cooked by her.  It was Somen noodles dipped in a dipping sauce.  You use your chopsticks and take the noodles from a common plate.  Then you put your noodles into your dipping sauce.  Then you, using chopsticks still, take the noodles out of the dipping sauce and eat them.  Boy was this funny!  My youngest son was trying to eat and couldn't, so he put a chopstick in each hand and did it that way.    Got to go help my daughter with math.  ttyl!     I'm back!  Our family is so excited!  We are a very musical family.  We wanted each of our children to learn an instrument during their "school" years that they could use to lead praise and worship with, if necessary.  Well, so far, this is how it's turned out.  Our oldest daughter wanted drum lessons!  Hmm...can you lead praise and worship and drum????  Oh well, that's what she's really interested in.  Okay.    Second child,  he was interested in electric guitar.  Oh my....  Well, since you're highly interested.  Then after a couple of years of lessons, his guitar and amp got buzzy sounding.  Would it be wrong to smile here? ;)  We found him an acoustic that had a pick up in it so that it could be plugged into the church sound system.  Oh, I love this guitar!  It sounds soooo pretty!    Third child, didn't want to follow in anyone's footsteps, so he  chose the bass guitar.  Hmm...can you lead praise and worship?  Well, no, but he's really interested...well, okay.  It really does add to the music to have that bass sound in it.  So, we are very thankful for his talent.    Skipping the 4th child for the time being, we put our 5th and 6th children into piano lessons.  The youngest one asked to take them.  As soon as he signed up, his older sister wanted them, too.  Well, God provided an instructor for $5 for 1/2 hour, so both went into piano lessons.  The youngest didn't enjoy practicing but boy did he enjoy "goofing off" on the piano.  They both made it through the first year of piano.  My daughter, 5th, loved the piano!  And she hosted the Japanese Exchange student this year.  Her friend, Midori, also played the piano!  So, we had lots of piano playing this summer in the house!     Now, to this year, we really wanted child #4 to learn an instrument.  He said that he was a "sound man" and didn't want to learn and instrument.  So, Dad and I discussed it and hadn't really come to any conclusions on the matter yet.  Then, all of the sudden,  "Hey, Mom!  I'd really like to play the flute!"  Great!  Can you lead praise and worship with it?  (I didn't ask him this, of course!  I was thinking it though.)  I was really excited that he wanted to learn how to play the flute, because I've always wanted to learn how to play the flute!  So, I told him, "You take band, and then teach me!"  Dad wasn't so sure.  He had "preconceived" ideas about what gender plays the flute.  So, Mom went online and hunted for flautists.  I found it was about 1/2 and 1/2.  1/2 male 1/2 female.  Then I was reading a blog from one of the male flautists.  He recalled the first time in his life that he saw a -female! - play the flute.  He didn't know women played the flute!  So, I told Dad about my findings.  By this time, he was fine about it anyway.  He just had to overcome some preconceived ideas.  Then we discussed the "leading Praise and Worship" topic.  He was all for guitar...it could be carried anywhere!  Even into jungles!  Then the thought occured to me...what could be more portable than a flute?  It's tiny, can be carried very easily.  You could start the song with the flute, stop and sing, then add riffs in as you all sing!  Bingo!  That did the trick!  So, #4 is starting band today!     We're having to travel so far for band, that I felt we should add another child to the mix.  Sweetie #5 wants to take drum lessons...daughter, that took piano last year.  Well, maybe she could do that in the band.  That didn't turn out, because it's only percussion, not the full trap set.  So, low and behold, our youngest...#6 (took piano last year)...wants to play the trumpet.  Hmm...Can you lead praise and worship with it?  ....hmmm...oh well, he's had 1 year of piano.  (and Dad played the trumpet :)  ...so, okay, that settles it.  Two to band this year.  One flautist and one trumpeter!     One minor problem, we've lost our drummer at church.  Our oldest daughter has joined another church because they are more missions-oriented and they have college- age kids and youth that she can minister to.  Our youngest daughter wants to play the drums.  Now...(ahhh...mom's getting nervous here...lessons and band aren't cheap when you're homeschooling...you actually have to pay for all this.)  Dad wants her in drum lessons this year.  (She's also taking piano lessons this year.)   I haven't reconciled to the "oh, well..." just yet...     What an exciting year in the Smith household!  Off to band! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Grace/193766/ Thu, 31 Aug 2006 10:52:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Grace/193766/ Andrew's graduation went very well!  I am so happy.  He was very happy about it and told us "thank you."  He said he had a great time.  He and his best friend were honored at the party we gave.  His friend is public schooled and won't technically graduate until June 4th, but he's completely finished with his schoolwork.  They both looked happy.    It was neat, Andrew's grandma came to our church...something she never does; and Jason's (best friend) Dad came, too.  That's also something new.  So, it was fun.  I got lots of pictures!    His senior table was a hit!  I just love it!  I'm leaving at church because lots of people were on vacation yesterday :(.  Hopefully, they'll come Wednesday and sign his Autograph book.    Thanks so everyone's best wishes! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Grace/138841/ Mon, 22 May 2006 08:55:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Grace/138841/     Well, I've been trying to get ready for the Graduation Ceremony and party for my second graduate from our homeschool!  I'm planning on having a Senior Table set up at the covered dish party we're having.    I'm going to put his prom pictures, 4-H photos, some of his 4-H certificates and awards, a basketball, his 3 on 3 basketball shirt (cleaned, of course), photos of him over the last 4 years, and his diploma will be displayed on the table.  If you can think of anything else, please let me know!  (I guess I could display his guitar?  No maybe I can find a photo.)    Unfortunately, this is the same weekend that the church is having a campout on Friday night through Saturday.  Ahhhh...So many things going on at one time.  The list keeps going.  Maybe it'll slow down when the hot temps set in.    I'm planning on baking and decorating the graduation cake also.  Boy, I hope I can do this without getting too frazzled!  I did buy some Wilton letters for imprinting on the cake before I try to write on it.  I know it will look a 100 times better than my freehand words!  I'm bad about not giving myself enough space for the words that I need to write.  I also purchased some darker colors for the icing.  I only had pink and baby blue from our friend's Quinceannera in March.  Oh...a playing we will go...a playing we will go...Hi Ho the dairy O...a playing we will go!    Happy Graduation to all you seniors out there! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Grace/137486/ Fri, 19 May 2006 00:12:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Grace/137486/ Hi all,Our local paper had an article on Gary.  The man that's walking across America to bring awareness to obesity in the US.  Gary has gained more and more weight after he got out of the military.  I'm not sure what his total weight was but he's losing it just by walking across the US.  I went to his website and read some of his journal entries and looked at his photos.  It's really neat!  Our 4-H theme in NC this year is "Fit for Health."    I thought this story would be great to share with the kids.His website is called "A Fat Man's Journey."  If you want to check it out, here's Gary's website:  http://afatmansjourney.com/ http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Grace/119438/ Mon, 17 Apr 2006 14:07:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Grace/119438/ RSS - It's a program that will go to other websites for you, collect the information, and put it all into one place for you to read over.  FeedReader is free.  I like the icons.  In Homeschoolblogger, the column with all your information has a link that states "My blogs RSS."  Click on that.  Your RSS "feed address" is up in the spot that you usually type in web addresses that you want to go to.  (I just copy and paste that information into FeedReader to add someone to my list.  Here is an example of what that address looks like:  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/rss.php?u=Grace    This one is mine.)Then, whenever I want to read through friends' blogs, I open FeedReader.  It immediately goes out into the internet and pulls in all the blogs that I have added to it.  (By the way, I also pull in HappyNews, Scientific America, financial articles and other neat websites' articles.)  Then I just click on the blog I want to read, it appears in FeedReader's box to read.  (No pictures, backgrounds, etc.  Very plain.)  It is set up very much like all email programs.Then if I want to "Read more."  I just click on "Read more" and it actually brings the website up into your Feedreader.  You can browse the article including pictures and backgrounds, etc.  Just like you do through your ordinary web browser.  It's kinda cool.Sometimes I just get the news really quick through feedreader...especially if I just want the headlines and don't want to have to watch TV to get the info.You can also just google "RSS."  You'll get lots of information about it!Hope this helps.  Feel free to ask me more questions if you have them! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Grace/115691/ Mon, 10 Apr 2006 15:30:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Grace/115691/ I'm still enjoying reading lots of blog entries on my RSS Reader!  Thanks to all who have their RSS turned on!FeedReader, an RSS Reader, has been great!  I like all the icons, etc. on it.You may enjoy it if you are in a hurry to see the highlights!  You can quickly move from journal entry to journal entry.  You will miss the beautiful backgrounds...unless you open it up within FeedReader!  I do this occassionally.  Especially if someone has put pictures in for the day. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Grace/114112/ Fri, 7 Apr 2006 11:45:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Grace/114112/ Some of us in our home really enjoy watching explosions.    This one happened in North Carolina and I found some good video in Kansas.  (Why not NC?  Maybe it was Google.)  Here's the link if anyone else wants to watch it.http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/14177801.htmOur favorite was the air shot video.  (Second was the slo-mo.)For school today, we have some company over.  Socialization is just so  much fun!  Actually, it's just one 15yo friend, but it's a fun change of pace.  Today they have been doing some woodburning on their homemade bows and swords.  Then they went and shot some arrows.  I'm amazed at how accurate homemade bows can be!For math today with Caleb, the 8 yo, I got out the game Presto Chango and we studied subtraction with regrouping using money.  It went really well.  He understood the concept.  I think I'll probably have the same lesson again tomorrow and let him write the problems on the white board while we are working them with the Presto Chango money.We may get to plant some seeds in our peat pots today.  I've used bleach water to clean the holding trays.  I should have started the plants two weeks ago, but I just never got around to it.  It's so pretty and our deck is warm.  I'm wondering if I should just put them on the deck so I don't have to go through the hardening off phase?  Hmmm??? http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Grace/107175/ Mon, 27 Mar 2006 12:46:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Grace/107175/ Has anyone else tried Sudoku?  It's number puzzle.  There is also another one named something like Katoku...I saw the book at Walmart but haven't found it on the internet yet.  I did find a Sudoku site...free puzzles and you can even print yourself a free E-book!  (I love E-books...especially when my PDA was working.  I could read anytime I wanted to in the car.)The site is www.websudoku.com   It even does LARGE print versions! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Grace/102650/ Sat, 18 Mar 2006 20:00:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Grace/102650/