Explain it once, let me do it, lets move on...this has always been my way of learning. Now I'm homeschooling and guess what??? My oldest daughter marches to a much slower drum than I'd hoped for. My youngest daughter apparently put high doses of caffeine into her drummer...because I can't keep up. So I find myself working on a learning curve that is a little more curvey than I'd planned. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Joesette/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Mon, 7 Dec 2009 18:58:00 -0600 Mon, 7 Dec 2009 18:58:00 -0600 We had our first snow on Saturday!  It was WONDERFUL!!  Wet, heavy snow that packs nicely for snowballs and snowmen. We all had so much fun playing together.  Nothing brings out the kid in you like snow!  My husband takes his snowball fights serious...as you can tell by this photo! Sledding is Lindsey's favorite pass time. Although, it's not beyond her to whack her sister in the back of the head with a snowball unexpectedly... Then we finished up the day, with a homemade apple pie...mmmmmmmm.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Joesette/750302/ Mon, 7 Dec 2009 18:58:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Joesette/750302/ Yeah, so this has been a not so great week in my world....lots of things going on, none or which were school related.  However, the frustration level on my part impacted school pretty badly.  So...we had our normal classes on Monday and that was about it. Tuesday was not one of my stellar mom days.  I gave up, walked out the door and went for a walk for about 2 hours, then rode the trolley around our city for a while and then headed home.  Unfortunately, I had no cash so I had to come home to get lunch or my mommy time out would have been longer.  It didn't really solve anything, but I did burn off lots of calories and gave myself the opportunity to pray and vent outside of the earshot of little listeners.  (Not to worry, I didn't leave the kiddos home alone.  The husband was home with them.) Tuesday night was better, as we traveled to the library to hear Red Hawk give a presentation.  You can read all about that here. I also brought home 30 books from the library about Christmas around the world.  We'll work on that next week. Yesterday I ended up at the doctors office due to some intestinal issues that were brought on by a combination of stress and eating corn and/or nuts.  I'm on meds for the next 14 days, but thank God the pain is subsiding. Next week will be better, I mean really  it has to be, right? To see how everyone else's week went, head over to Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers for the weekly wrap up. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Joesette/749515/ Fri, 4 Dec 2009 12:52:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Joesette/749515/ Have I mentioned before that I LOVE my city library?  They have the most wonderful events, speakers and programs throughout the year.   Last night was WONDERFUL! The library hosted Native American storyteller Red Hawk and it was FABULOUS!   As you can see, Red Hawk was dressed in traditional Cherokee clothing.   During the 1 hour presentation, he taught us several words in his native tongue.  I doubt the spelling is right, but here they are: the word for hello (pronounced O C O)  I understand (pronounced a-ho)  and a lovely war cry that was really similar to "hoo-wah" that you hear the marines yell on occasion. Red Hawk taught us some of the traditional  drumming rhythms and helped debunk a lot of the myths about the erroneous and stereotypical drumming in movies.   The 30 or so children and 50+ adults had a wonderful being his drummers (using our hands on our knees) as he walked us through several rhythms and their meanings. Several volunteers were chosen to learn traditional Cherokee dances as well.  The boy in the red shirt is from my Native American co-op class, and the name we gave him is Wise Owl. The stories were entertaining, engaging and had good morals.   One point he made, was are the things you're giving your time and attention to  matter when you're 98?  Good question in a lot of areas! At the end, he played part of a lovely song on his flute.  We learned that women in his culture are not allowed to play, or even touch a flute, because it's a instrument used  for love songs for the men to use to woo their women. If you ever have the opportunity to attend a presentation by Red Hawk, I strongly recommend it!   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Joesette/748942/ Wed, 2 Dec 2009 11:29:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Joesette/748942/ I want to wish everyone a very blessed Thanksgiving!  We'll be seeing my family on Thursday and then the in-laws on Saturday, so we'll spread out our feasting a bit! We did spend Monday - Wednesday doing our regular school things.   On Monday, we spent time learning about the 5 senses.  I found this really cool game at a discount store, for about $1 and we're using it for games we're making up as we go.  It has two spinners, and bingo shaped cards and then various picture cards as well....on a very sturdy platic that I LOVE! I figured since we were working on the senses, I'd incorporate that in as we made homemade pumpkin spice play-doh. We worked on smelling.... ...tasting.. ...touching... ....more smelling.... ...and a LITTLE more touching! Seeing was as the dough started to thicken and form while I was cooking it, but I couldn't stir and take a photo at the same time.   Hearing was listening to the directions as I gave them the amounts of things to add to the mixture. Here is the recipe (courtesy of Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations) if you'd like to make your own batch! ~ 2 cups of flour ~ 1 cup salt ~ 4 tsp. cream of tartar ~ 1/4 cup cinnamon ~ 2 Tbsp. cloves ~ 2 Tbsp. nutmeg ~ 2 tsp. ginger ~ 2 cups water ~ 2 Tbsp. oil To Make: 1. Mix the flour, salt, cream of tartar, and spices together in a mixing bowl. 2. Add the water and oil to the dry ingredients and mix together well. 3. Transfer mixture to a medium sized saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly. 4. The dough will begin to thicken and form. When it becomes difficult to stir and is more solid, remove from heat and carefully knead the dough. {Note: dough will be hot!} 5. When dough has cooled, have fun playing. Store in the fridge to help the dough last longer ~ this is great for the holidays! This was the final week of ballet until January.   Lindsey's little class did a presentation for the parents on Monday night, so here are a few OH.SO.CUTE photos! Here is Jayden, Gracie and Lindsey, her "bestest friends in the whole wide world EVER!"  I love how their pesonalities came out in this photo! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Joesette/747454/ Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:19:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Joesette/747454/ Olivia is memorizing Psalms 23 for her Awana class.   I thought I'd let Lindsey say it with her, just to help her get a head start, and to give her a little harder work. So...here is Lindsey's version: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.   He made me lie to all the green pastors, and He made me steal water." Needs a LITTLE work! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Joesette/746859/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:02:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Joesette/746859/ Michelle over at Scribbit has the grand-daddy of all give aways going on right now!!  Just by entering (no strings attached) you can win this incredible HP TouchSmart 600 PC!!   In case you have no clue what that means (like me for example)...here are some of the features. The HP TouchSmart 600-1055 is a desktop PC where you can touch the screen to manipulate information. It comes with all the features you normally get, with the bonus of being able to pinch, rotate and drag things anywhere you want with your own  fingers. built-in adjustable webcam, wireless modem, microphone and premium speakers wireless keyboard and mouse HDMI gaming console so you can play your Playstation, X-box or Wii in HD 23" HD 16:9 screen plus HDTV tuner with a remote capabilities for viewing Blu-ray discs plus viewing or burning DVDs 750 GB hard drive TouchSmart Live TV, Windows Media Center and Windows 7 software For your chance to win, simply head over to Scribbit and enter.  You may do so by clicking HERE!   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Joesette/746471/ Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:20:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Joesette/746471/ We spent the week being Pilgrims; doing things the old fashioned way and learning some new ways of doing stuff (or in some instances, attempting to do new things). On Monday we made a drop spindle from a cd, pencil and paper clip.  I was told by a spinner that you could make this contraption and then spin dryer lint into thread/yarn.  Yeah...well ours kept bunching up, tearing, falling apart etc.  I finally added some shredded cotton balls to give some longer fiber to the lint and that seemed to help a wee bit.     I taught the girls how to make homemade yeast bread as well.  We attempted this last year, and the girls worked OH.SO.HARD on it, only to find that my yeast was a dud and the bread didn't rise.  So this year I bought fresh yeast, and set them to work.   We also made homemade butter by using heavy whipping cream.  The process is simple, if you'ld like to give it a try.  First set the cream out and let it come to room temperature.  Pour the cream into a glass jar (with a proper fitting lid) and then shake like crazy for 15-20 minutes.  It seems as though nothing is happening and then suddenly POOF a large lump of butter forms and the excess water begins to swish around.        Books we read: Thanksgiving on Plymouth Plantation, by Diane Stanley Sarah Morton's Day, by Kate Waters Stories of the Pilgrims, by Margaret B. Pumphrey A Great and Godly Adventure, by Godfrey Hodgson Thursday was our monthly homeschool activity day.  In my Native American class we studied the Iroquois.  We studied on the "Three Sisters" (this was the only tribe in the book that I could remotely tie to Thanksgiving!)   We made our own string of wampum beads for trading.  We also completed three more pages in our Native American Dictionary and marked our maps to show the areas that the Iroquois lived in.  This is our last week of Co-op until January; freeing up that extra day a week is going to help me to push further ahead during the next month.  Monday will be the last day of ballet until January as well (as they go into full rehearsal mode for the Nutcracker). Head on over to Weird Unscocialized Homeschoolers to read about everyone else's Weekly Wrap Up.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Joesette/745528/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:32:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Joesette/745528/ The "birds and the bees".... Yes sir, this is the topic that can strike fear into the heart of almost any parent!    Author Jim Burns has written two age appropriate books to help parents to teach this important topic from a scriptural vantage point!       Pure Foundations: God Made Your Body is written for children ages 3-5 years of age.  This book has color photos of children showing the differences in skin, hair and eye colors.   The focus is on how God created each of us as alike in some ways, yet different in other ways.  The differences leads into the differences between boys and girls. These differences are explained in very simple terminology, using proper names and vague drawings that have the detail needed, without crossing the line of "TOO MUCH INFORMATION" for little ones to digest.   The author wraps up the book with Psalm 139:13-16 to reinforce the point that God created us.         Pure Foundation: How God Makes Babies is written for 6-9 year olds.  The book focuses on marriage, and His plan for the creation of babies.  Again, the author uses proper terminology and slightly more detailed drawings of the differences between boys and girls.  As the book progresses it walks a child through the various stages of pregnancy, labor and delivery, again with simple drawings, nothing graphic or too intense.  Labor and delivery are explained in simple terms, no photos here folks!  Here is a direct quote from the book, that gives you a direct insight into the heart of the writer, and the heart of God. "Sharing your private parts is something to save for your husband or wife when you are grown and married.  That is God's wonderful plan." Author Jim Burns does a wonderful job of covering this topic in a tasteful, educational and Godly way.  Scripture is added throughout both books.  The overall emphasis is that God created us and that we are wonderfully made.     Disclosure: This product was provided to our family for free by Bethany House. Reviews and opinions expressed in this blog are my own and I have not received any compensation for this review. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Joesette/744922/ Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:58:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Joesette/744922/ The Crafty Classroom  has a WONDERFUL Christmas giveaway.   Two winners will each receive a Pop-Up Nativity and Talking Jesus Doll!   Winners will be drawn on Tuesday November 24th.  So click here to get all the details and enter to win!   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Joesette/744879/ Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:00:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Joesette/744879/ This is the perfect “idea book” to get your family ready for the upcoming holidays! And it’s yours at no charge—no strings attached. This 180-page Digital Holiday Magazine is not your typical E-Book. Created with the same high-quality format that’s used in the digital version of our print magazine, you can even “turn” the lavishly illustrated, full-color pages of this supplement. And we hope you will enjoy this timeless, practical, and beautiful resource for years to come—all at no charge. There’s so much included in this exciting supplement! Make this the gift that keeps on giving—link your friends and family up to receive their own fantastic copies! Click here to get your free copy. Again, no strings attached.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Joesette/743743/ Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:05:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Joesette/743743/