Hi!! I'm Lisa... Homeschooling mom to 2 wonderful kidlets and this is a journal to share our family life and learning adventures with you...We use an eclectic mix of "child directed" Charlotte Mason studies... So sit down, set a spell and enjoy our homeschool journey...Have a great day and thanks for sharing it with us!!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Loving2Learn/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:18:00 -0500 Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:18:00 -0500 Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Loving2Learn/739702/ Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:18:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Loving2Learn/739702/ This summer we went to the Adventure Science Center in Nashville, Tn... We loved it!!! There was so much to do there... The exhibits were great and they have a homeschool day too...   The have a wing dedicated to space called "Space Chase" where you can have the chance to undergo simulated astronaut training, tour the Solar System, experience a moonwalk or find out what you weigh on another planet. The Human Body wing is called "BodyQuest" and presents a day in the life of your body. You get to see what goes on inside you every day, how your body systems work together and how hard your body works to try to keep itself in good working order... There is the BlueMax which is a virutal flight simulator that offers a three minute flight for two people.. It is presented by Middle Tennessee State University and MTSU Aerospace. BlueMax allows the "pilot"  to control every thing..Including all the loops, spins, and dives associated with flight... In the Adventure Tower, you find an area filled with amazing activities, it's more than 75 feet tall with seven levels and an observation area that looks out over the whole city. You can hoist a car off the ground without effort and actually see what the hunan epidermis is like on a   larger-than-life wall of skin... Plus for an extra admission price, you can watch visit the Planetarium and view the show... This planetarium is one of only 7 in the world and the only one outside of Japan...   And if you present you Teacher ID, you can get a discount on admission!!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Loving2Learn/737149/ Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:45:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Loving2Learn/737149/ This summer we took some Junior Ranger classes with some homeschool friends...The Junior Ranger programs are wonderful and are offered/available in most State and National  Parks...You can find out more about the program here..   You can also find free curriculum, fun and games, and a guide to park Junior Ranger programs and a host of other fun and educational media created by the National Park Service here... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Loving2Learn/737134/ Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:27:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Loving2Learn/737134/ In Pigeon Forge, Tn, there is a unique museum called Wonderworks... It is a children's paradise for hands-on learning...For the past few years,  they have offered a free admission to homeschool families in the area (with your teacher ID from an umbrella school)...   It is a great opportunity and we try and take advantage of it every year.. They have an inversion tunnel which puts me in a "semi-euphoric" state trying to walk through it... An illusion gallery, a space area, climbing wall, a great wind tunnel, an "Earthquake Cafe" with lots of shaking going on... and an area for light and sound... Playing with the Bubbles   DD on the Climbing WallDS as an Astronaut It is always a really a cool experience and we had a great time again this year!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Loving2Learn/737132/ Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:30:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Loving2Learn/737132/ We had a fabulous field trip to the Rocky Mount Living History Museum... It is a historical farm dating back to 1769 when William Cobb arrived to settle his land grant. The home dates back to 1791 and is full of wonderful antiques and artifacts of the era, as well as, characters in role... George Washington was President and the kids witnessed in first person interpretation the daily lifestyles, domestic and work skills, food, clothing, furnishings and games enjoyed by people of that time...   All the kids took several classes: Stenciling, 18th Century games, candle dipping, paper marblizing, and pewter casting... It was a great learning adventure and we are looking forward to going back at Christmas time.. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Loving2Learn/737127/ Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:50:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Loving2Learn/737127/ Recently my son advanced into another class at Karate and began taking Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu... It is very different from the martial arts he has been taking... This is more on the floor action and grappling...  He takes this at Real World Martial Arts, which is one of only 4 schools in Tennessee to be approved for the Pedro Sauer Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Association. So we are very fortunate to have this school so close to us... DS's belt advancement test was done recently... Here are some more photos from that night..   DS with his instructorGroup Photo http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Loving2Learn/737123/ Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:21:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Loving2Learn/737123/ Nikki at  the "Painters 5 "  has a great  giveaway for the Homeschool Creations Curriculum Clean-Out... She is offering  AOP LifePac Science Grade 3 Teacher Guide and Set of 10 LIFEPACs... All you have to do is leave a comment, blog about it, or subscribe to her blog feed!! So, you get 3 chances at this  awesome giveaway!! GOOD LUCK!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Loving2Learn/717162/ Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:39:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Loving2Learn/717162/ http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Loving2Learn/716961/ Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:25:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Loving2Learn/716961/ This year, I am budgeting monthly for homeschool purchases... So, I have been waiting to go to McKay's (our local used book store)   until the middle of the month so as I would be able to buy books if I found great prices... Here's what I came out with...I found some great book buys while out today running errands... Here's what I got: For 75 cents to a $1.50 each, I got Magic Tree House Research Guides for:  Rain Forests  (Afternoon on the Amazon) American Revolution (Revolutionary War on Wednesday) Polar Bears and the Arctic (Polar Bears Past Bedtime) Ancient Greece (Hour of the Olympics) Pilgrims (Thanksgiving on Thursday) Twisters and other Terrible Storms (Twister on Tuesday) Knights and Castles (The Knight at Dawn)  "Consider the Following"  by Bill Nye The Science Guy for 75 cents... (a way cool set of science questions, answers, experiments, and ideas to ponder) "Can it Rain Cats and Dogs" questions and answers about weather by Melvin and Gilda Berger for $1.50 "The Warrior and The Moon"  spiritual stories for children of the Maasai (which I have been looking for forever!! for $2.50 and last but not least... "Great Americans, The Life and Times of" Ben Franklin and George Washington for $1 each... So I am pretty happy with my book buys this month!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Loving2Learn/716957/ Thu, 13 Aug 2009 05:46:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Loving2Learn/716957/ Today, I had some errands to do, so we took advantage of the opportunity to do some "carschooling" ...   Each child has their own 'lap tray'. They provide a hard surface for coloring/school activities and a flat surface when eating in the car that I got for $2 each at the Family Dollar Store...   Then we started out... I had packed a CD of classical kids music and a DVD of the Magic School Bus in Space... (hoping to kickstart the kids into excitement over the Meteor shower)   The kids completed their math sheets, each completed their HWOT assignment, moving on to sentences for DD and a daily gram sheet for DS... Then they worked on their notebook assignments for Mesopotameia and colored their sheets while listening to the classical music...   On the way home, they watched the Magic School Bus video... and ate their snacks (which I had also packed) and drank water from stainless steel water bottles that I got from Walgreens which were on sale for 3/$10 ... I'd like to get away from using plastic, mainly for our health since alot of studies have been coming out lately showing that plastic water bottles can leach harmful chemicals into your water when they are heated or washed...   We had a great trip and we still got school completed!!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Loving2Learn/716952/ Thu, 13 Aug 2009 05:25:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Loving2Learn/716952/