Wendy's Homeschool Antics - Homeschool Blogger

The Plan 2009-2010

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:26:00 -0500

I think I've FINALLY got things figured out for the upcoming school year. Here's what we're doing:

History: Mystery of History Vol. I I like this because it parallels Biblical history with Secular history so we'll actually know how the two tie together.

Science: Apologia General Science 1st Edition Why the first edition? Because I got a good deal on it, lol. We'll be using the Lapbook kit from Knowledge Box Central along with this. It not only includes lapbook pages, but journaling pages and lab report pages.

Math: Life of Fred--Beginning Algebra We're also using the Home Companion that goes along with the text. It divides the text into lessons to use throughout the school year and gives extra practice.

Language Arts: Grammar Punk 4-9 This is a hand's-on grammar program that teaches grammar through games using 6 specialized dice. I'm ANXIOUSLY awaiting for this to come in the mail. I've also found another program to use for writing. It's Foundations to Writing which has lessons based on Mystery of History. It is basically the same program by LearningSuccess. I'm interested in using it because the first 18 weeks of lessons use graphic organizers to teach students how to organize their thoughts and be creative. After the first half of the year, actual writing begins building on the usage of the graphic organizers. For literature, we'll just choose lit selections that go along with our history.

I've decided to use the schedule at Ambleside Online to add in some Music/Art appreciation.

Just thinking about it all makes me want to take a nap!!

What to blog, what to blog, what to blog...

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:03:00 -0500

Wow, it has been AGES since I've blogged. I guess I've been suffering from "Blogger's Block" again.

I'll start by updating on Zachary's Growth Hormone Shots. He has grown 2.5 inches since he started the injections in November. It is going well, although he doesn't like them. He was very happy when we visited an amusement park in May and he was FINALLY tall enough to ride a certain roller coaster. He said that made the injections worth it.

Steve went on a month-long sabbatical from the end of April through the end of May. He was studying the use of multi-media in churches. Since the boys are homeschooled, we joined him. Our trip began in Nashville where we visited Brentwood Baptist Church. We also went to the Nashville Zoo, walked around the Opryland Hotel, had a tour of Lifeways' Publishing Headquarters and ate at the Aquarium Restaurant (in the same restaurant chain as Rainforest Cafe.) We also visited with a friend who was one of our professors when we were at seminary.

After this, we went to the happening place of Big Point, MS. We visited Steve's parents, celebrated their 50th anniversary and held our new Great Niece.

From here we went to Tupelo, MS and stayed about 10 days in a home used for furloughing missionaries. Our good friends who lived in Vero Beach when we did, now live in Tupelo and we made sure we visited often. We also drove to Memphis where Steve toured a couple Mega-churches, visited with seminary friends who are in Memphis and visited with more seminary friends at the house in Tupelo. It was sort of like a seminary reunion, one couple at a time. Oh and lets NOT forget...we also visited the birthplace of Elvis!! (Can't leave that one out).

From here, we traveled on to Branson, MO (where my parents now live.) Steve took the opportunity to see several shows including "Noah" at the Sight and Sound theatre. The two of us went early for the backstage tour. It was amazing to see how much has gone into the sets, lighting, stage, etc. Don't get me wrong, the actors were very talented, but it's really the awesome set that makes the show.

After our month was over, we drove back to MD and have been spending our time retraining our cat to use his litter box each and every time and not armchairs. A young adult from our church stayed in our home for us while we were away so that he wouldn't be lonely, but he is just a cat who is going to have issues.

Reading the Bible in the 21st Century

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 11:02:00 -0600

I just started using Bible Gateway for my daily Bible reading. There are different reading plans you can utilize. Of course they have the Read-through-the-Bible in one year plan but they have 4 different choices for how to go about it. There are also reading plans for reading about the main Characters of the Bible in chronological order and another for reading about the major events in the Bible. Both of these are 61-day plans.

You can set your preferences to choose which version you want to read from, size of text (for those of us who need bifocals but aren't quite ready to admit it), etc. The footnotes in the readings link to the verses referenced. If you want to read what a different translation says, you can just scroll up to the top and quickly choose from the menu. The reading plans have an RSS feed to subscribe to. This is great for those of us who tend to be forgetful. Everyday when I go to My Yahoo I will see the link for that day's reading.

Just wanted to share.

BTW, for those following my saga with Zachary's growth...He's doing great. The shots are working out and he's even had a nice little growth spurt.

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:28:00 -0600

I was busy today and heard Zachary calling "Mom!!" I went to find out what he needed and this is what I saw:

Yes, this is Zachary stuck in the laundry hamper. He said "I don't know how this happened, but I'm stuck!!" Being the very kind and understanding mother I am....well, maybe not....I had to run and grab the camera before helping him out.

Zachary's injections begin on Saturday.

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:32:00 -0500

I haven't updated for awhile on the status of Zachary's growth hormone problem because to be honest I didn't really want to think about it. But, since the growth hormone arrives today by FedEx and the nurse is coming on Saturday to teach us how to give him the injections, it's time to get over it.

Zachary without a doubt has growth hormone deficiency. The levels of a child his age should have been around 10 throughout the 2 hour test. His highest level was just over 2 and most of them were 1 point something.

He will have to get injections 6 times per week and we will be doing this for years to come. Hopefully when he's an adult, his growth hormone levels will have gone up to around 5 and he won't have to continue the injections as an adult. He also has to have an MRI of the brain to make sure his Pituitary Gland is fine (which it most likely is, it's just something that has to be ruled out).

A Forced Smile

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:55:00 -0500

Well, Zachary's glasses came in. He's very happy about how much better he can see while wearing them. But, he did NOT want his picture taken. Maybe when he gets older he can wear contacts.

Update on Zachary--Growth Hormone Testing

Tue, 7 Oct 2008 09:51:00 -0500

Last Wednesday morning, we woke up bright and early, fought the Baltimore rush-hour traffic, and arrived on time (barely) to register Zachary as an Outpatient at the University of Maryland Hospital. We took him up to his doctor's office and then back behind her office they have a hospital room set up just for testing.

Zachary was the only patient being tested. We watched Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone during his test. After she inserted the tube thingy through a needle, she started taking blood samples every 15 minutes, injecting insulin at first and an amino acid for the 2nd hour. Zachary did okay for the insulin. After she gave him a sugary snack to raise his blood sugar he got really hot (which is normal). He wanted to pull his clothes off. She came back in and laughed. This was the first time she ever had somebody remove their clothing. He did have a blanket to put over his underwear.

We found out there are two types of growth hormone in our body. The type that goes through the liver before going to the bones IS low in Zachary. They have to find out if the pituitary isn't secreting it or if something in the liver is stopping it.

When it was over, Zachary ate a huge slice of cheese pizza in the hospital food court.

Zachary had a hard week. We also realized his vision isn't what it should be so we took him to the Walmart Optical and sure enough, he's near-sighted. His glasses should come in some time this week. He's not very happy about having to wear glasses. He thinks he'll look like a nerd. Steve and I helped him pick out a nice-looking pair. Ashton wanted him to get "Chris Sligh" looking glasses. We strongly discouraged this.

Turkish Delight

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 19:46:00 -0500

(I asked Ashton why he puts his thumb up in all of his pictures. He thinks it's funny to do that and to have what he calls "beaver teeth." Yes, the kid is a nut!!)

Since we are doing a Narnia study, we get to make some Narnian recipes. Our first one to make was Turkish Delight. So, being the good homeschooling mom I am, I first read the recipe to make sure we had the needed ingredients. I decide to skip the orange or mint flavoring since it said "optional" and to skip the crushed nuts.

The first thing the boys noticed after we had started cooking is that you CAN add orange or mint flavoring. They also wanted to know where the nuts were. I explained that it said "optional" for the flavoring and that nuts are always optional. They had a different opinion (especially since the word "optional" was not by the nuts) and I made a quick trip to the local grocery store.

I had no idea it takes this stuff so long to gel and then so long to harden. We let it set overnight in a pan to gel. Today we cut it up and rolled it in sugar. The recipe said to place it on a wire rack to dry. Did they try this recipe first? It eventually FALLS through the wire rack.

Supposedly, by noon tomorrow it should be hard and ready to eat. We started Friday afternoon.

We went ahead and tried it even though it isn't hard yet. Guess what it tastes like? It tastes like minty/citrusy Jello with crushed peanuts in it. Zachary was thoroughly disgusted. Ashton thought it was okay. Steve and I thought it was "interesting" but we do not know why Edmund (in the book) liked it so much. I think I would have asked for chocolate.

Getting to the heart of the matter.

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:42:00 -0500

Zachary had his Pediatric Cardiologist appointment today since he had a borderline irregular EKG. The first thing they did was take another EKG. After listening to Zachary's heart, feeling his pulse, and reading the EKG the doctor concluded that there is absolutely nothing to worry about. That is a relief. He also looked surprised that his Endocrinologist said there can be a connection between cardiac problems and growth issues. But, once he heard who the Endo is, he looked impressed that we are using her and had only good things to say.

What is different on Zachary's EKG? Let me see if I can figure out how to say this. The electric "current" that goes from the top chamber to the bottom chamber to signal the heart to beat (I think I'm getting this right) is supposed to take something like .140 milliseconds. His only takes .085 milliseconds. So, he has fast electricity? or something like that. But, since nothing else is "off" on his EKG it's nothing to be concerned about.

Going to The National Zoo

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 18:20:00 -0500

We finally made it back to The National Zoo on Friday. Of course we HAD to see the Panda Bears. Why is it that it always seems to be naptime at the zoo?

The Sloth Bear wanted to see Ashton and Zachary.

He brought his ball down to the window so that he could watch them and continue what he was doing at the same time. He is a bear who knows how to multi-task!!

Here's an unusual specimen in his natural habitat.

Zachary insisted his legs were tired and he just had to sit down on every bench we passed.

No, Steve is not really sitting on Zachary's head. He's just pretending.