I'm a christian and a wife and a mother of 2 boys whom we've always homeschooled. We live on 6 acres and Dad works from home. Homeschooling provides us our dream lifestyle. Our philosophy is relaxed, eclectic homeschooling, better known as "If it works do it, if it doesn't work stop doing it." I love to hear about what works for others and I love to share what works for us. Welcome to our adventures! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LoriD/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:06:00 -0600 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:06:00 -0600 Just a couple of things to update on: We are back on track with our agendas and a fuller schedule.  Having that Monday Meeting, especially with Josh makes all the difference. So we are in the home stretch of our history projects.  Next Friday is the day.  Today we are picking up an army costume for Josh (wish us luck) and that should complete anything we need to get.  Next week we'll pull everything together and put any finishing touches on the project.  Noah has done some more work on his but will require a wee bit more "pulling together" than I had hoped.  Oh well. We've added spelling back into Josh's mix and that seems to be helping with his writing - or at least him asking me - "how do you spell.....". The kids each took a Phoenix class on the 13th.  Noah's was Phonics Fun where they did rhyming words, beginning and ending sounds and the hit of the day - jellybean bingo!  Josh's class was The Essay Apprentice - which was a good introduction for him on what is an essay and why he needs to know how to write one.  They didn't do a lot of writing but they built a model of an essay out of Lego (very neat).  I need to follow up with Josh and get at least one good quality essay out of him this year.  We could of done one for his History but I'm afraid that we've run out of time in order to do a good job of it and he's already done lots of writing for his project so that kind of seems like a mute point at this point. I went to a Digital Scrapbooking class which I'm excited about.  Starting in 2010 I want to switch from traditional scrapbooking to digital so I'm trying to organize myself for that to happen and learn the software that I'm going to be using.  I've been downloading lots of freebies too - fun for me! Noah's Music classes are going along really well.  He loves his class and is pretty diligent even about practicing.  I can tell that Music is going to be one of his "things" - he's fasinated with how to play the guitar already too.  I see lots of music lessons in our future. Josh has also been working on the side for a few people.  He likes the money coming in as his bank account was getting pretty low and he is starting to want things again as well as repairing his gaming system, things tend to add up, he's finding out. Well I think that is it for now, next update will be after the History Extravaganza I hope to have lots of pictures for that. Until then.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LoriD/746196/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:06:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LoriD/746196/ So an update....Halloween of course.  Here is Noah as a Power Ranger: Josh is too old for trick or treating but he helped Sarah take Noah and Owen out and Noah generously shared his candy with his brother. To refocus in November I reviewed both the kids History projects - Josh is doing well and we'll use the remaining weeks to pull what he has done all together.  Noah's project is a bit behind but we actually got quite a bit of it accomplished today in that I can see it coming together now. The Extravaganza is on the 27th so still lots of time to tie up the loose ends. Josh submitted his Pretzel Poem to the Homeschool Scribbler.  Here it is for your enjoyment: The Basic Pretzel The basic pretzel, brown and basic. Salty, twisty, bumpy, crunchy, tasty. Peculiar, practical, predictable and pretty darn good. Noah has been doing his own copywork.  He is working on copying out the Llama, llama red pajama book.  He is doing a really good job! We are a bit behind in our read alouds so I've revamped the schedule and am working more it into the schedule right through December. Math is humming along for both boys.  Science needs some vamping up too but I think I won't worry about that until after their History Projects are done.  I've added a refocus on Geography and Science for the new year in my calendar. Speaking of calendars that is another area were I refocused today - we were all getting lazy with our agendas so pulled them out again and made sure we are all writing everything down that we need to do and/or are getting done. So I think that is it for me for this update.  Chat with you all soon.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LoriD/743382/ Mon, 9 Nov 2009 16:21:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LoriD/743382/ I've come to the conclusion that blogging every day is just not going to happen.  My goal now is to blog every week (obviously I've missed that) so time for an update and I'll try to better.... Let's see, not a lot on the calendar per sey: Noah's Music class every Wednesday is going really well.  He enjoys it and is learning a lot! Mug Up's haven't been happening for us for one reason or another (weather or too many errands to run that day) but our homeschool group is doing a Mug Up/Activity day at the church where we rent space for classes.  Oct 28th was the first one and it turned out really well.  Josh taught some of the kids and adults how to make sushi.  Noah painted some eggs (which he really loved) and painted some pictures.  Some of the other kids played a variety of games or built stuff.   Also there were ceramic oranaments to paint.  Lots of variety and yet it was relaxing enough for the adults to sit and chat which we always love to do.  I'm thinking for the winter months this will be a great event to combat some of the cabin fever that could happen. The History project is coming along.  The end extravaganza will happen at the end of November so we will be in the final stretch.  I'm very happy with the work Josh has done on his project.  Noah and I need to spend a little more time on his but it will all come together in the end (as it always does). Math is going okay for Josh (and Paul) they are finding a rhythm and some days there is celebration for "finally getting it" and other days it's a long drawn out affair - but it's all good in many ways. Science also is humming along - reading and intermittent experiments.  Josh has also had a couple of work opportunities "off the farm" so to speak.  Friends of ours own a ranch and have employed Josh for a couple of days when they need an extra hand.  He enjoys both the time away I think and the money for sure. Noah is busy as ever with all things "school" can't keep him busy enough....luckily he doesn't think he needs me to help all that much (ha ha).  I think in some respects he might even be bored so I may "up the game" in the new year and give him some new challenges. Well that is about it for this update.  I am looking forward to a new month and a renewed sense of focus.  I must admit at the 6 week mark I should of sat down and drawn up some new plans (and I still haven't done that) but I'm hoping to do that next week especially in the area of Josh's writing and giving Noah some more focused direction.  OK off of here and I need to start my day! Later everyone! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LoriD/740593/ Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:51:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LoriD/740593/ OK this isn't going to be the "prettiest" blog post ever but if I don't get this out there soon - I'll get too far behind and will probably stop blogging so here is the "just putting it out there" version. Sorry that it has been a while, here is the catch up: History project - is coming along REALLY great - Josh got a hold of a resource that he is really excited about and it's making his project "come alive" for him. Teatime - Read Alouds, Geography - Noah especially is coming along really well with his Canadian map Eye appointment for Josh and he did Math in the truck while we went to Music Bowling - Josh got 5 strikes in one game! But I beat him on the second game! Phoenix classes - Noah took I'll Huff and I'll Puff where they read the story and then built structures of their own design and then the teacher tried to blow then down.  Josh took May the Force Be with You - his favourite part was when they built a structure out of straws and mini marshmellows and then the other team would throw a ball and see if they could destroy the structure.  A very good class! Thanksgiving - Noah lost his first tooth The weather has been cold, blowing and snowing!  Today we hunkered down and I baked goodies and homemade soup.  Lots of book work done - still have Noah's music practice to do. Noah is loving his music class - best decision this year by far.  I really need to refocus on writing for Josh - copywork and dictation is going ok - spelling needs work - I'm just not "inspired" I think I need something more structured for right now......thinking on it....   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LoriD/735906/ Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:39:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LoriD/735906/ OK so the rest of the week wasn't much better. Wed - Mug Up which was our homeschool groups annual NOT going back to school party.  It was nice to see some new faces as well as familiar ones.  It was nice to have a good laugh as well, that always puts things in prespective. We did have to rush off to music though which was ok. Noah does enjoy "having his own thing".  Paul had an eye appointment while we were at Music and he wasn't done when we were so we took a nature walk (read Noah found a stick) and we headed to a nearby coffee shop.  I've been tryng to do an extra special thing with Noah after each class and this turned out very nice indeed.  A special drink and some browsing at the next door drug store.  When Paul got there we headed to Home Depot to pick up a few last minute items to complete our back entrance reno and then went out for dinner (read Wendy's). When we got home it was quiet as Josh stayed at his friends house for a sleepover.  Noah was in bed early so it was a quiet evening in front of the tube with hubby. The next morning, Noah and I headed to a friends place to do our Cooking Exchange.  This month we were doing a variety of Dump Chicken recipes which went very quickly and I came home with a number of meals for the freezer.  We picked up Josh from his friends on our way home.  Unfortunately Josh picked up a pretty bad cold and was really feeling under the weather.  We took pity on him today and just let him do his math - funnily enough he seems to be better now, ha ha.  Noah and I practiced Music after Noah had watched a science and math DVD.  He also did a science experiment on his own oh and he wanted me to give him his whole math workbook instead of one page at a time.  He is definately looking for more to do! Well that's the update for now, chat with you all on Monday!   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LoriD/732725/ Fri, 2 Oct 2009 17:58:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LoriD/732725/ You can start to see by the frequency of my blog posts that it's starting to get crazy around here.  Here is a bit of a catch up. On Thursday it started off as a bit of a different day.  We had all slept in, I was "behind" in my regular routine and the kids were playing nicely together (who wants to interupt that?)!  So instead of starting off our day with our usual reading, writing and math routine and saving the "fun stuff" for the end I decided to have an upside down day and bring out the "fun stuff" first. Noah's science, history and geography project is all about the solar system, creation and earth so I had purchased a precolored model of the solar system for the kids to put together.  They had fun doing it together and learned some stuff - like in order for the model to be "to scale" the sun would need to be 105" big - we tape measured that out and Noah was most impressed at how big the sun is in comparison to the planets....but his favourite is still Pluto - I know technically not a planet anymore but don't tell him that ok? Here is a couple of pics: We ended up doing our regular schooly stuff after that but it put the day in a nice frame of mind for the rest of the work. On Friday we did some "project work" for school - that is we demoed our back entrance and built a new one.  Well not just us - we had 3 other families come and help!  But Josh started with the demoing on Friday morning - you can tell he enjoyed it!  Monday was a very lazy day and although we attempted to have a routine day a few things happened that interupted that.  First off was a need to take Noah into the Dr.'s.  He has a boil on his butt that we have not been able to get rid of with different antiboitic creams so after begging the doctors office for an appointment we hopped in the truck to take him there.  Unfortunately the truck wouldn't start!  It was the weirdest thing - battery ok, lots of gas, starter seemed fine.  Anyways our Dr. appt got canceled and in it's place a tow truck had to come and take our truck to the dealership in town to see what was wrong.  So switching gears again I decided to try and selvage a "routine" day.  That went well until Noah went to do his Letterland cd on his computer - dead as a door nail! After that we called it a day and I went for a nap! This morning I'm hoping we get the truck back (we'll have to use the RV to go into town or catch a ride with someone going our way - I'll also have to try and get Noah into the Dr.'s office again - there is also library books to pick up and a long list of errands that I might as well do since I'm in town.  I think this week is just going to be one of those weeks that we have to "go with the flow" or drown in the craziness called "life".   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LoriD/731535/ Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:18:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LoriD/731535/ Yesterday was Teatime so we got caught up on our read alouds.  Even Dad joined in which was nice as well.  Noah zoomed through his stuff while we were reading, talk about your independent learner, ha ha. Today we usually go to Mug Up but I think we'll stay home and just go to Noah's music class later. Noah practiced his music, did his Letterland workbook (letters d, e, f and g) and did a Math worksheet.   Josh is starting his Math and Noah and I are off to Music.  Later!       http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LoriD/729657/ Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:14:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LoriD/729657/ Today turned out strange as Noah did all his school stuff before lunch and then Josh and I got started at our usual time of noon.  We did writing and his history timeline together and then the rest of the day he spent with Paul on Math.  Noah practiced his Music, did his letterland letter Tt and his handwriting in record time and just kept moving along. The only thing we didn't do today was our read alouds - but Teatime is tommorrow so that will be easy enough to catch up on. I did get lots of "paperwork" done today which felt good - I was feeling a wee bit behind and my desk was showing the effects of that.  Well that is it for us today, until tommorow.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LoriD/729189/ Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:36:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LoriD/729189/ For a Fun Friday today seemed like a very full day! We began a new read aloud Kingdom Dawn and talked about mentorship and the character traits "Being Kind" and "Persistence".  Josh wrote about these as his Friday Freewriter as well. Noah did some Letterland Reading as well as handwriting - he got to choose whichever letter he wanted.  I thought this was a good strategy as yesterday we had a bit of a power struggle over the letter "M".  He wrote the first M and then the first stick of the second M and then got in his mind that he did not want to do any more.  Normally I would let this go as I want learning to be fun but I sensed he was testing me on whether I would give in or not so I dug my heals in and told him that we weren't going to do the puzzle he wanted to do until his M's were done.  After going back and forth a bit he finally flopped in his chair but didn't start to write.  I was working in the kitchen and he came into the kitchen with his hands clasped (like he had been praying) and he said.....(you know what's coming don't you?)  "Mom, I prayed to God and He said I don't need to do my letters."  Well suppressing a very huge laugh I said "Well I prayed to God and He told me that you need to obey your Mom."  He was totally disgusted with that answer but he did go back to his chair and finished all his letter "M's".  So today...."S's" by his choice went very well and quickly.  We then did 2 puzzles together. While Paul and Josh struggled through Math (I'm SO glad I'm not doing Math this year) Noah and I did coloring and cutting of some crafts he had printed off yesterday from the Jumpstart Artist computer game.  We also caught up on the Geography that we missed on Tuesday and Noah also watched Magic School Bus Lost in Space again.  Next week I hope to be able to do a mobile with him of all the planets. I spent some time writing up plans for next week - there are a couple of books I need to get from the library for Noah. Oh Noah practiced his Music and we finished up all the homework for that class as well.  He only needs to practice 3 more times before his Wed class - he's looking forward to Wed already. Well the kids chose to watch Tarzan to round out the day, so that is it for our first week back.  Looking forward to "upping the game" a bit next week now that we are "in the groove" so to speak. Until then, later everyone!   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LoriD/728289/ Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:33:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LoriD/728289/ We had beautiful, hot weather for our first Mug Up.  We were at a local park with bike riding and a playground for the kids and lawn chairs and coffee for the Mom's.  We all "played hard".  It was great to be together again and catch up on old and new news! Noah and I left early to attend his first Music for Young Children class which I think he is really going to enjoy.  He loves having his "own" thing to do and he can't wait to get on those keyboards.  There is regular pratice involved so I'll need to keep on top of that as that is not usually our "style" but I think Noah is really going to enjoy this program and the teacher. After Music we stopped in at Michael's and bought Noah a small circular knitting machine - he was thrilled!  When we got home he promptly put it together and with the eyelash yarn that was supplied in the box he quickly "got praticing".  He's thrilled that he can "knit with me" which I'm hoping will make for more knitting time for me as I haven't done much of that since we got home from holidays. Today we have Listening Lunch on the agenda, I've downloaded a WWII lecture from PowerMedia for Josh and I think for Noah we'll listen to and watch Magic School Bus Lost in Space. I also have crabapple jelly to make and it's Paul's 50th birthday.  I've planned to have hot apple pie and ice cream for dessert tonight - one of his favourite desserts. Well I hear rumblings of kids waking up I guess I better hit the shower and start my day.  Chat with you all later.    http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LoriD/727809/ Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:05:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LoriD/727809/