Mom and teacher to two of the most wonderful boys in the world. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/soaringwings/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Sun, 19 Nov 2006 21:10:00 -0600 Sun, 19 Nov 2006 21:10:00 -0600 I have set up shop at Typepad.  I am giving it a try on my free month.  Check me out over here.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/soaringwings/241701/ Sun, 19 Nov 2006 21:10:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/soaringwings/241701/ Where in the world have I been these last few weeks?  Sitting right here at the computer typing and typing.  My data entry job has reached it's peak time and I have been swamped. But we have been plugging along with our school work. Here are some of the highlights of the last few weeks: History: The great Dynasties of China, Korea and Japan The Kingdom of the Franks The Islamic Invasion Charlemagne We are reading A Door in the Wall and Whipping Boy, stories of boys who lived in medieval times. Geography - Maps: Comparing Scale Finding routes and distance Lattitude and Longitude Literature Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Mr. Popper's Penquins Foreign Language: We had our first meeting of our Latin and Spanish Clubs. Science: We are finishing up our Oceanography study next week then it is on to Landforms and Earth Science Field Trips: Shakespeare Tavern to see Comedy of Errors - the boys really enjoyed it and Zachary was able to follow the story with no problem.  He asked when we can go to another play. Carlton Dairy and Farm http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/soaringwings/223505/ Fri, 20 Oct 2006 10:21:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/soaringwings/223505/ Work is keeping me busy, but I am happy to say that I have been able to keep our school time intact.  I made it a priority this year and let my manager know that I will still work hard and long, but I WILL NOT work during the morning hours that are set aside for school.  From time to time we have started a little late or had to skip a nature walk, but I have not missed a day or skipped some things because of work.  I already planned an October Fall Break into our schedule to give me some relief in this crazy month.  I took it early because my husband is having some unexpected health issues.  He suddenly developed high blood pressure with no history and no other indicators.  We have ruled out any heart issues and the focus is now on his kidneys.  We are waiting for test results.  We have resumed school this week while we wait. Prayers of family and friends are keeping us lifted up.  I am tired physically and emotionally, but know this pace is short term.  It won't be long before we are into the fun of the holidays and this work load is behind me.  And I know that my husband will be well in God's hands. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/soaringwings/213486/ Tue, 3 Oct 2006 11:10:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/soaringwings/213486/ It is that time of year again.  The time when my work picks up and the days start flying by.  I do part-time data entry at home and in the fall and spring we enter all those fundraiser forms from the schools.  It starts to become more like a full-time job by the end of October.    So I will more than likely begin posting weekly updates rather than daily accounts.  That is sad for me because so much happens in a day and I would hate to miss recording these moments.  But such is life.   As promised, here are some of our San Diego pictures showing some of our oceanography experiences. <embed src="http://flash.picturetrail.com/pflicks/m_photopeel3d_r.swf" loop="false" quality="high" FlashVars="logopath=http://flash.picturetrail.com/pflicks/ptlogo1.swf&ptdim=50.10&ptxy=275.16&auto=1&wait=4&img1=http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1346/5532201/11055193/188194364.jpg&img2=http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1346/5532201/11055193/188194371.jpg&img3=http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1346/5532201/11055193/188194379.jpg&img4=http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1346/5532201/11055193/188194384.jpg&img5=http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1346/5532201/11055193/188194388.jpg&img6=http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1346/5532201/11055193/188194391.jpg&img7=http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1346/5532201/11055193/188194394.jpg&img8=http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1346/5532201/11055193/188194396.jpg" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="275" height="225" name="photoFlick" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><table width="275" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"><tr><td align="left" valign="bottom" width="85" height="30"> <a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/misc/counter.fcgi?cID=500&link=http%3A//www.picturetrail.com/webpages/about-photoflick2.shtml"><img src="http://pics.picturetrail.com/res/pflicks/pt.gif" border="0"></a></td><td align="left" valign="bottom"><a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/misc/counter.fcgi?cID=501&link=http%3A//www.picturetrail.com/webpages/about-photoflick3.shtml"><font color="#0E58FF" size="2" face="arial">Cool Slideshows</font></a></td></tr></table>   The boys started their music lessons this past week.  We are fortunate to have Joyful Noise Homeschool Band locally offer various classes for a nominal fee.  Zachary started Beginning Guitar and Connor is taking the Recorder class.  The parents are required to volunteer and somehow I got talked into being the Room Mom for both classes.  They are both excited and we will see just how excited they are about practice each day!    We got a big box of homeschool surprises from my friend in Germany.  The big surprise was a microscope kit.  We can’t wait to use this!  There was also a Leap Pad Quantum and a Leap Pad Turbo Math Twister –thingy.  I sold Connor’s Leap Pad last year and you would have thought he never had even seen one before.  He played with it for hours.  Zachary spent hours doing division games on the twister.  Who would have thought?  Thank you Auntie Laura!     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/soaringwings/203934/ Sun, 17 Sep 2006 19:07:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/soaringwings/203934/ I have long been absent from my blog so it is time to catch up.  I kept meaning to post, but you know how time goes!    We wrapped up our first five weeks of school in time to head out to San Diego for my sister’s wedding.  We only made one change to my original schedule.  We added a day of Latin review.  Everything else seems to be working fine.  Some days it goes quickly and other days we need to go a little longer than planned.  The good thing about the long days is they are usually longer because we are having fun and don’t want to quit.    Connor is buzzing along just fine in math.  I think I have figured out that even a little rocket scientist like him needs to keep working on multiplication facts.  I am going to add the multiplication wrap-ups to both boys’ daily math assignment to help keep them fresh.  Zachary has gotten over the latest math hump and we are back on track.  I didn’t switch to Saxon because as soon as the books arrived he suddenly seemed to be getting it.  I have it on hold for now, but may pull it out as reinforcement to MUS.   Both the boys are doing well with handwriting.  Connor is a much neater cursive writer than printer.  Zachary is just refining his style and is working on building his typing skills.    Both boys love Easy Grammar, Daily Grams and Spelling Power.  They actually pull them out first thing in the morning.  I am so much more at ease with their grammar and spelling skills.  I feel we are on the right track with this now.   We are happy with our weekly poem sessions.  Each boy picks one or two to read aloud.  The writing assignments are really starting to stretch them.    Spanish and Latin continue to be fun.  We got a chance to practice a little Spanish in San Diego.  My mother was impressed with the boys learning the Sanctus in Latin and she remembered it from her childhood Catholic masses.   We finished our study on Beethoven.  I think they are starting to love him as much as I do!    Our history studies are going well.  We will finish reading about the Muslims and Arabs this week.  This has been a real learning experience for me as well.  The boys have enjoyed all the map work we are doing with this as well.  We finish Otto of the Silver Hand and would highly recommend it.  It was so well written and very surprising.   Oceanography has been one of our highlights.  I will write more about our aquatic adventures in San Diego later.   We got an unexpected lesson in geography before we left.  We covered the time zones at dinner one night while discussing our airplane ride and our departure and arrival times.  While on the plane, we pulled out the maps in the back of Sky magazine and reviewed what we had learned.  They also got a real time lesson about jet lag.  I will post pictures and write more about our trip in the coming week.     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/soaringwings/199787/ Sun, 10 Sep 2006 18:32:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/soaringwings/199787/