Jan. 11, 2009
going into week 2 - Missouri
Posted in Homeschool
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Okay I'm bad..but trying..
We just completed week 1 of Missouri. It was very hard getting back into homeschooling after taking a week and a half off from schooling. And Christmas week, we did very little. So it was kinda more like 2 weeks off. We didn't cover everything I had planned so it's carrying over into our second week.
Some things we'll do:
Harry S. Truman - learn about him and do a bio report.
Mark Twain - ditto!
State quarter, color in a picture of a "postcard" from Missouri. :)
Art: how to draw cartoon characters. Walt Disney was from Missouri!
Make some homemade vegan ice cream. We learned how dairy ice cream is made last week. I'm terribly allergic to dairy, plus I wouldn't know how to make the dairy kind. I have a recipe for tofu ice cream so we'll make that this week. :-D
Books to read: Rude Mule, Simply Delicious, Grandpa Was a Cowboy.
Character Trait for this week: polite. Now this was a hard one to find in the Bible so it's basically examples of politeness.. Memory verse is Rom. 12:10 (about genuine love, taking delight in honoring each other - I think this fits because when you're polite you honor other people) One example I believe it's Abraham towards two angels when they came to his tent... very cool story. I'm just tired and can't think..
Outside activities: both girls have choir practice on Monday, separate times of course. Wednesday Rabbit has this prayer shawl ministry she'll take part in, making a prayer shawl. (what's a prayer shawl?) And Thursday Rabbit has Sprouts. I may be helping out this week but don't know, could be the following week..which will be the day after Rabbit's birthday. (she's a busy girl this month!)
I think I mentioned this before that PD asked me to help with the crafts with Sprouts. I'm excited and can't wait. Still don't know what I'm doing.. yet. :D
Rabbit turns 10 on the 21st. Hard to believe she's hitting the double digits! And her party is the 25th. Theme: Around the World! It's doable. Hard? a little. But we did Galloping the Globe unit study and I still have the book, plus some other books. I'm sure we can swing this. I did the invitations by hand.. now that was work!
One more thing and this is a brag: Rabbit did her first overnighter the other day (Friday night) at a retreat with a group from our church. She did great! Now I should mention that she has Asperger's so it's tough for her. But she's become friends with a girl who, just a few months ago she had a hard time with! They said there were no problems with her, she did great. I'm very proud of her! OTOH, my little girl's growing up! *sniff* |
Nov. 19, 2008
finished early today!
Posted in Homeschool
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Now mom can play, get some things done... Okay Piglet's got the sniffles real bad so I'm ending early. Art this week is supposed to be drawing comics. With dh being off next week, it could be make-up time for that. He's very good at drawing (unlike me who can mostly do hearts and flowers!). So this works. And if my friend does call there shouldn't be any worries about interrupting our homeschool. We read a lot this morning. The Shadow of the Wolf book, finished off the first Kirsten book, read some Peanuts comics... I don't know if it's true or not but yesterday we did a biography report on Chuck Schulz. We learned he died - as a non-Christian? Something about his becoming a "secular humanist"?? Oh I hope not! I hope he's in Heaven. Not that it matters a celebrity being in Heaven, I care that there's as many as possible up there. Hate to hear about someone dying and not going there. A few years ago we lost a non-Christian friend. The girls' first experience with death of a person (we lost a guinea pig a few years ago, that was very sad). It's tough either way.. Someone correct me if it's not true about Schulz not being a Christian when he died. I would definitely love to know if he's up in Heaven... of course some day we'll know for sure. Gotta go. Piglet needs more of her medicine.  |
Nov. 14, 2008
week 1 of MN is over; changes may be on the way
Posted in Homeschool
We finished our first week of MN. It's been fun so far! I've really enjoyed it and hopefully so did the kids. We're learning about pond life - the good, the bad, the icky! Ya gotta love those frogs! 8) The girls did get upset about predator animals though.. yeah ITA, not fun to learn about that.. but it's a fact of life. We've been reading the story, The Shadow of the Wolf. It's about a family whose dad is a land surveyor. He is a friend to the Indians though and moves his family to an Indian friend's area to help them buy back their land from the government. Pretty cool. And today we started reading about Kirsten, the American Girl, who moved to MN from Sweden. Both girls did their spelling tests and got 100% on them. (yeah!) And they had "self tests" from their math workbooks. Did okay, a few wrong. Math isn't our strongest point.. I did horrible even in the 3rd grade! Just couldn't get it and my dad, well he didn't take my math weakness too well....  I'm really trying not to repeat the chain of abuse going in my family...it's hard but I'm trying!Next week: we'll learn about Charles Schultz and try our share of drawing cartoons.. We'll learn about MN's state tree; more pond life stuff and learn about starting our own pond. Though we may not start one, being the fact it's going to get colder! I wouldn't know where to put it on our yard even though we have a nice sized yard..we've also had aquatic pets - goldfish, sea monkeys. The sea monkeys died in less than a week. So did the goldfish! We do better with the furry kind of animals. Which probably explains the squirrel nest in our roof! lol  We'll also be doing more sign language which has been a blast. I do need to try working it in to everyday stuff so they/we learn it better. The kids are driving me crazy. I'll make lunch, some fries like they ask. Piglet will come to me and say "it's about time!" when the fries are done. She's also hit me and hurt me a bit this morning. That's another week without computers for her. Rabbit called me an "idiot" this morning. She wanted to listen to a song on playlist but I had to reboot the computer first. (it was giving me some problems) She didn't like it and called me an "idiot." She didn't get to listen to her song.. I'm so tired of their being so disrespectful and even going so far as hitting me. Rabbit lost 2 weeks of computers for kicking me twice... she's still in that punishment btw. Onto the changes: No I'm not pregnant. lol I was talking to my dh last night. We're struggling really bad financially. Getting deeper into debt. And we got some important bills coming up. I need sneakers and can't afford that! And new glasses. The kids need winter boots and some winter stuff (especially Rabbit) So I'm going to look for part time work. Honestly I don't want to. However, it looks like I don't have much of a choice. It's either I go back to work or dh does. And he's the one who drives.. so for him to go back to work wouldn't be so smart. The kids have church activities and need their time with dad too. I'm with them all day homeschooling. We do get tired of each other, though I hate to admit that! Only thing is: what about my going back to school? What if Chris gets worse? He can go on disability, so we found out but it doesn't pay so great... I had a dream last night he died.  I know, it's only a dream. He has fallen asleep on the kids (not on top of them!) but I worry about them with him falling asleep so easily and what if he doesn't wake up in time to come pick me up from work? I know it sounds so petty and selfish, huh? I'm telling you, special needs issues should only be for families that have money! I will be applying for some local jobs tonight/this weekend when Chris is home. Just in case I have questions. I'm kinda out of it with this stuff these daze.. One more thing: Chris has been extra tired lately. And he just had a phlebotomy last week. *shrug* Trying not to worry. |
Oct. 17, 2008
end of week 1 of MA
Posted in Homeschool
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It's been a busy week - and this weekend will be crazy. More on that in a minute. Monday we took the day off for Columbus day. Plus my dh had the day off. Makes no sense doing homeschool when he's home. Just doesn't happen. We finished our first week of MA today. It's been fun, kinda. We learned about Johnny Appleseed (real name John Chapman) which I think all 3 of us could agree that was very cool. He was like a missionary - spreading the Gospel and apple seeds. We was considering kinda strange since he was pretty much like a pauper and wore odd clothes for his time (and ours, come to think of it). But the people loved him - and tried to help both the Indians and settlers. Sad that he died of pneumonia. I wonder if there was anybody that helped him when he got sick? Today we also learned about John F. Kennedy. And Rabbit is truly rebelling against me, always going for those Democrats. lol I don't think JFK was such a terrible guy but it's kinda funny how Rabbit goes talking about wanting to vote for the Democratic party. Honestly, I vote for whoever I think is best for the job - Republican, Democrat or other... But she loves learning about the Presidents. The other day we did a Flower Detective of MA's state flower, the Mayflower. But when I did an "image search" on the computer for Mayflower, I got a bunch of pictures of the Mayflower boat, not actual flower. Rabbit, who hardly ever laughs about such things, burst out laughing! So that was cute. We figured it out though and they got their flower detective done. :-) Character Trait for this week: Persistence. One we could all work on! And boy did we struggle. And I'll stop procrastinating next week. lol I'm so tired now. Sunday is Piglet's birthday party. She turns 8 on Monday. Where does the time go? Our theme is High School Musical, which is no surprise. So far, only one boy is coming but that's perfectly fine. Should be fun. We're mixing a basketball theme in with HSM since Piglet loves basketball and is fairly good at getting the ball in the basket, for her age or any age.. And since Monday Piglet has choir practice, we're bringing cupcakes for after for her group and anyone else.. Got lots to do this weekend and want to get to bed early. G'night and Happy Friday! |
Oct. 12, 2008
this week - Massachusetts study! and other news..
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We're getting there in the middle of the M states. I wish I could go visit all of them. Taking Columbus day off since dh has the day off. I'm hoping to get to a farm stand with the kids and go pumpkin picking. We actually already have a pumpkin, since one somehow myseriously grew in our yard. I'm an accidental gardener, things don't always grow well if I do it on purpose. lol Okay the morning glories did great and we got baby's breath that's taken over some areas of our yard. (baby's breath was sorta an accident - I threw the seeds down last Fall!) So we're finally up to Massachusetts. I could take 3 weeks on this state, there's so much you can learn about with history, etc. I haven't decided yet on art for Tuesday. But we'll be learning about Johnny Appleseed and JFK. (two Johns in one week!) Hoping to make an apple pie with the girls..talk about timing, being October and we're going to a farm stand on Monday... (but I still miss the city!) For vocabulary, we'll learn what a cape is, as well as bogs and marshes.. MA's flower is actually the mayflower. (thank you, Pilgrims!)  Next week, I'm hoping to teach the kids about Louisa May Alcott, who wrote Little Women. I've read the book and seen the movie. Not my taste personally, but I think it's good for the girls to read about.. and of course Paul Revere. I'll try to find the Fetch! episodes we have on tape when the kids had to retrace Paul Revere's ride and go on this scavenger hunt, etc. Should be fun. I got a week to look for it - so there's a chance I'll find it. :-D Maybe.  We'll also be learning about the MA colony, stuff like that. History, history! Rabbit's gonna be in heaven...Piglet, well she'll hafta suffer through it. She'll be fine. Now that I think of it, I have a book on making 3D maps- including Paul Revere's ride somewhere in there...  Other news: My pastor friend, his wife had a baby boy on Thursday (the 9th). I haven't seen him IRL and don't know if I will soon but I've seen a picture. He's beautiful! The expression on his face is like he's ready for his first kiss! Piglet cried when she saw his picture, saying over and over how beautiful he is. (and she'll be turning 8 next week - sweet huh?) I probably won't be talking to my friend for another week or so, unfortunately.. since he's outta the office for now. :-( But keeping him and their family in my prayers, especially his wife and her recovery time...I did tell one of his other friends from church I'd be glad to help them out if they need it and told him as well in an email. So I don't know if I'll get a call but we'll see. They have a lot of family who live nearby. Of course the offer still stands even if it's weeks, months, whatever from now...(got that, Pastor D if you are reading this!) I haven't written on here much - sorry to say. Been giving in to depression a bit.. But I'm doing alright. I did get together with a good friend on Friday, for a little while. And I've had some fun on facebook... felt sick on Saturday and last night I dyed my hair a reddish color. I know it sounds funny but when I'm going through tough times, I dye my hair a lot. This is the 2nd time in about 2-3 months.  About my dh: Thursday he had a bad day, did better Friday. Today he's cranky, moody and it's becoming contagious. >:-( He's making macaroni and cheese for the kids right now. His feet look horribly swollen! We got into an argument, that's how he ended up cooking dinner. I won that battle..sorta..  Happy Columbus Day / Canadian Thanksgiving day everybody! |
Sep. 27, 2008
more on plans with Maryland unit
Posted in Homeschool
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I am almost done planning for this week. Well it depends on how long it'll take to do the Bible lessons! Character trait this week: Gentleness. Ya think God is trying to tell me something with these character traits??!! I wasn't so gentle with a woman today who complained to me about my daughter at the library. My dd wasn't so bad, this person blew it outta proportion and I was tempted to slam her. Gentleness along with self control would be good ones to look up for me alone, huh? (though I did exercise self control - nobody got hurt! ) I'm excited that we're gonna be learning about Harriet Tubman. She was a true hero of the Underground Railroad. Her bravery is to be admired and I would consider her a role model for my girls, though honestly at this point, I don't know tons about her. But I think enough to say what I just did.. I found a great hands on activity to go along with learning about Harriet Tubman: make a journal and write about what it's like to be a part of that. Like pretend you're her, or you're one who gets helped by her. I think this would be good experience for my girls. And no, we're not black or even partly! But I'd like to think if I were alive during those times, I'd be helping the black slaves escape to freedom. Other lessons for this week: flower detective (black-eyed Susan), animal detective - MD's state bird.. for MD we'll also learn about crabs and their state tree of course.. There's not as much with this unit, but I hope the girls enjoy learning about the civil-war era and all that. That's all I can think of saying right now. Besides the fact I think I'm getting sick... |
Sep. 17, 2008
Posted in Homeschool
This has been a long week so far. And to think we're right in the middle now! Both kids are still coughing, sniffling, etc. I gave Rabbit some zyrtec this morning to help her. Her eyes were watery so I think she does have some hayfever to top her cold. I wonder if the medicine affected her though? It's hard to say - she's always moody. Kinda like when you know someone who's an alcoholic, you can't tell when they aren't drunk. Or giving a kitten catnip. kwim? Rabbit's my little moody girl and was like this as a baby too. She'd go from crying to laughing in the same breath!  I did read to them a bit. There's a book called Shadows on the Sea, which takes place during WWII about a girl who spends the summer at her grandma's while her parents are away. Pretty good so far. But we have so much more to cover we're getting behind on. Maine is a busy state! You could learn a lot from it, for a state that's mostly boonies. I couldn't live anywhere if it's more than 20 minutes away from a Walmart or something! I live in the sticks now but couldn't live where the neighbor was Grizz Lee Bear!  What's driving me nuts about the girls this week is they want to go on the computer yet they are "too sick" for schoolwork. Then they have meltdowns if I say no. Rabbit is punished again from the computer for the big meltdown yesterday. Something she's obsessed with and she's gone way too far on. I just had to do something to let her know she needs to stop. I'm a pack of nerves with decisions I'm going to need to make in the next few weeks - about school for me.. about other things...still unsure about my church.... etc. Well, at least it's helping me lose weight! I was getting my appetite back but I'm losing it again. Go figure. I could lose a good 50 lbs anyway so it's no big deal. Just hope once I lose it, it doesn't come back. |
Sep. 16, 2008
kids are still sick :-(
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I guess it's some virus that's going around. Both are coughing, sniffling, sneezing... I know I'm next once they're all better. And I really spread out the lessons good for 2 weeks learning about Maine. We'll have to crunch it all in next week anyways. I hope this doesn't go on for 3 weeks. We're behind on this curriculum and I want to cover all the states by June. Someone on here pointed out that I have so much going on that it's clouding my view of things. She could very well be right and I appreciate her pointing it out. I had a rough start to the week and regret that big time. I've been so moody and not sure why. I feel like, I wish I had the blood disorder instead. My dh is the better parent, he's more patient with the kids than I am. By 7:30 pm, he usually takes over getting them ready for bed. I'm ready to a break big time. (right now they're watching a dvd) I've been so depressed. I still don't get the "God never gives you more than you can handle" thing. Yeah right. But I am going to Him for help, that's for sure! I really wish I could see Jesus face-to-face and He'd tell me what I should be doing as far as school, church, family, etc. A hug would be nice too. The kids missed choir practice last night like I thought they would. Hopefully they'll be back next week. Rabbit missed her first practice last night. Bummer. Today there's some science group at the library. The kids want to go but they'll even admit they're not up to it right now. We'll see how they are by the afternoon. I'm not keeping my hopes up. Will I ever get outta this house again??!!! I'm so isolated to begin with. That's the tough part about having sick kids. You feel like you live in a box. I am getting more housework done anyway.  Chris is doing pretty good as far as I could tell. I'm helping him out more, which gives him extra rest so maybe that's part of it. At least I'm trying to help him out more. I've had some say I'm the glue that holds this family together. No way. Jesus is that glue. Without Him, I'd be like plastic wrap only sticking to myself and making more of a mess! Pam, thanks again for being so encouraging. And thanks again everyone for your prayers. I know God is using you to make a difference here by your prayers and encouragement! (((hugs))) |
Sep. 9, 2008
this week....
Posted in Homeschool
We're in week 2 of Louisiana and so far so good. Tuesdays are our "art" days so today we learned about the mardi gras and made little masks. It's the kind that just go over your eyes, kinda like The Incredibles, but only fancier than the black ones.  For once, art was a big hit with the girls and Rabbit requested the "whole mask" kind. I was going to pick those up, but they were more expensive at Michaels. So I got the 3 pack smaller kind and I got to make one too! Joy to the world... Piglet had her spelling practice test and got 100%, which is pretty much what she usually gets in spelling. She should do fine on her final test tomorrow. I'm not even worried. Just have her look over the words before we start homeschool and she'll be okay. Rabbit was very distracted by who knows what this morning. We did get some nasty thunderstorms this morning. But they didn't start until after she had started her work, so she can't blame it on that. Took her about an hour or so just to cover 2 subjects! Something's on her mind. She has been complaining she wants to move to the next town, where our church is, so that she can be in the same public school as her friends in Sunday School. No way. So we'd move to that town and just homeschool there! She is not going into public school uh-uh! We've been reading about Ruby Bridges, a girl who was chosen to be a part of the integration of schools in the deep South. It's pretty good so far. We're reading the book she wrote, "Through My Eyes" or something like that. We'll be watching the Disney movie about her tomorrow. I hope they keep it true to the story. Hollywood in general doesn't always keep things accurate. (look what they did to Pocohontas! ugh) We'll do the biography report on her on Thursday. Friday we'll wrap up Louisiana. It's been fun though we haven't eaten any Cajun food or had any gumbo. I couldn't find any okra! I have a great recipe for vegan crockpot gumbo, taken from the fat-free vegan site I have linked here. ETA: Last night Piglet started choir. She did okay, but she's not used to all those instruments, etc. It was a lot on her. So we'll try it out for a few weeks and see how she does. It was overstimulating, and I'd like her to get used to it. The kids there were very nice and sometimes she misunderstood their intentions, or accused them wrongly. We gotta work on that.. Rabbit starts choir next week. I spoke with her leader today, but regret the fact I couldn't talk longer (she called from outta state too!). We were on our way out the door. Today we had a Barnyard thing at the library. The kids got to pet some animals and play games, do a craft, have "hay cookies". I had a small piece and didn't suffer a reaction - yum! They were pretty independent without us in there; just a few parents joined the kids. My girls are so used to the librarians at this library, and they did great! No problems. Now there's a first. And a miracle. And next week we start the "M" states, starting with Maine. That'll be neat. We'll learn about lighthouses and sea stuff. I ain't making no lobstah! lol I plan on doing some recycled crafts for art since they were the first state to start the whole recycling thing, so I'm told... and we'll make some kinda blueberry dessert. I should try to get kinda crazy with the blueberries on the kids, since they already know about Maine and their blueberries. But like I said, no lobstahs, unless we adopt one as a pet! |
Sep. 5, 2008
school today
Posted in Homeschool
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Was very short! We were finished around 10 am! I gotta plan more stuff. I hope they really are learning something. Rabbit did her spelling test and got 100%. She's doing good with spelling this year - this was unit 3 and another perfect score! Piglet had a math test and got 1 wrong - it was all in the addition/subtraction section of course. Don't ask how she could get any wrong when she uses an abacus. Will write again later. |
Aug. 27, 2008
better homeschool day :-)
Posted in Homeschool
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First off, I want to thank you ladies who commented about my last post and your prayers. I was really blessed by your encouragement and your prayers! (((hugs))) This morning went much better. Not perfect of course, but better. Rabbit requested her vitamin drink to help her, which I felt was very mature. She said she was "feeling moody" again and needed that drink, so of course I gave it to her. Piglet - well she's got adhd and forgets easily. But she didn't have a meltdown or anything. Just wore on my patience. And I got pms so my patience runs thin easily - not that it's ever been great to begin with! They both did just okay on their math tests - Rabbit got 4 wrong, Piglet got 5 wrong. But they didn't fail and we're just gonna move on from it. With Rabbit, it was silly mistakes, like forgetting to finish the math problem - say 47 x 3 - she'd do the "7 x 3" part, but not do the rest of it. I gotta teach her to look over her work before she tells me she's done. Piglet- well she's still getting her + and - signs mixed up. We learned about bats this morning - and freaked the girls out over vampire bats. rofl They're afraid for our cats, but honestly they don't live around here. They're still afraid.  I can't help but laugh. I think vampire bats live more like in the warmer states - New Mexico? southern TX? and Mexico. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. I don't mind. Of course when you think of anything "vampire" you think of this horribly scary thing mixed with a mouse with wings... ick. My dh doesn't like bats either. They bother me, but not as much as the rest of the family. We did more sign language as well - they're really loving this and so am I. It's surprising how many signs are used naturally in our language. We know more sign language than we realize, so it's pretty cool. The girls are watching the movie, Angels in the Outfield. I should go watch it with them since I never seen it before and don't know how good it is. Rabbit's request and since she behaved pretty good this morning, I felt she earned it. Til next time. :-) |
Aug. 26, 2008
rough morning :-(
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Unbelievable. Some days I can honestly say, I hate having kids with special needs. I know it sounds mean and cruel, etc. But it's so frustrating. I'm really trying but I have very little support IRL and many times I honestly don't know how to handle them. I need someone to show me, not just tell me or refer me to a book. I don't learn from books so easily. I need to see, to practice, to be able to ask questions to understand. What ruined today was art. It was simple - we were making placemats, using bright colored cardstock and just weaving them. How simple is that? Well, when you have a 9 year old with motor skills problems whose moods swing more than a playground swing... and her 7 yo sister with adhd who likes to copy... You getting the picture? Rabbit blamed Piglet for the reason why she's "so bad at art" (Piglet likes to show how good she's doing it - "bragging" according to her big sister) and Rabbit hit her. Piglet in turn, hit me.  I got so frustrated both lost computers until Saturday. Maybe that was extreme? I was so caught up in the screaming, etc. and then feeling hurt (physically) myself. I'm just so tired of it all. Some days I do wonder why I homeschool. But I feel kinda stuck since the public school in my area can't handle them either. And with dealing with them, and my temper? Not a good idea.  |
Aug. 19, 2008
grrrr!!!!
Posted in Homeschool
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I think all I have to say is Piglet. She's my challenge when it comes to homeschooling. And I only got a few hours' sleep last night so my patience is extremely slim. And she's making up the craziest excuses: "it's the "R"'s fault!" as in the letter R??! Someday we'll laugh about all this. Like when she's 30 and I have Alzheimer's?? I think I'll reschedule art for today since I'm so tired and stressed out. We're planning on doing a paper roses wreath. (because of the Kentucky Derby) I don't know much about horse racing and the whole rose wreath thing, but it's a girly craft and could help with the girls' motor skills. We did sign language - even went further than planned since they loved it so much. I like this program a lot. It's by Instant Immersion - we got the big pack for $20 something and was well worth it. It stressed the importance of facial expressions which will help Rabbit a lot, since she has Asperger's. Aspie kids have a hard time reading peoples' faces and I think that'll do her a world of good. |
Aug. 15, 2008
plan for week of the 18th (Monday!)
Posted in Homeschool
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Okay here goes. I just hope all we're doing works out okay. We do a unit study called Cantering the Country. It's great - and we've had a lot of fun. I think what I like the most is really seeing how beautiful this country is that we live in. I never knew there was a "painted desert" like there is in Arizona.. We've been going in alphabetical order and I guess we went a little slow last homeschool year. Monday we will be starting on Kentucky. This is one state I know nothing about, so it'll be just as new for the girls as it will be for me. The state horse is the Thoroughbred so we'll be doing an Animal Detective page on that. We'll also learn about Daniel Boone next week. (the Christian radio station I listen to sometimes plays a funny song about D. Boone - if I'm bold enough maybe I'll call and request that song! I don't feel that bold enough these days so maybe I'll email them instead ) Billy Ray Cyrus was born in KY, so I borrowed some of his cd's from the library. They see him all the time watching Hannah Montana and Piglet loves that Buffalo song he did with the muppets special. That'll cover music since we don't listen to much country in our house - I'm more into Christian rock/metal and the kids are getting into it too. They may have special needs, but they're still cool! Spelling: Rabbit is in 4th grade, but she'll be doing 3rd grade spelling. It's Christian Liberty, which I believe is advanced so that's okay. As long as she's learning to spell, that's what's important. Piglet, otoh, is advanced with reading/spelling so she's right on grade level for that and will be doing 2nd grade work. We'll be doing a health workbook once a week; language arts 3x a week. Science - oh that's like everywhere with this curriculum. The horse thing, and Considering God's Creation. I'm gonna attempt the mold experiment again! (anyone got any moldy bread? rofl) How that experiment did not work a few months ago, I ain't got no clue. Bible - I still gotta work out and will this weekend. We do character traits and the first week it's about unselfishness. I hope I don't get carried away and like preach at them. God knows I gotta work on this too! phys ed - go outside and get some exercise. Or if it's raining, we'll do one of our dance videos. Just something to get all 3 of us moving. We borrowed HSM2 from the library again - we're not exactly couch potatoes watching these kinda shows. Maybe I'll try to focus on helping the girls with copying the dances (something I do well with believe it or not). Art - I plan on helping the girls make paper rose wreaths because of the Kentucky derby. We have plenty of tissue paper - I just need to see what else we have around the house to make it into wreaths. Maybe just make the paper flowers on pipecleaners and tie them together? Math - the girls are finishing off their math books from a few months ago and then will be starting Lifepacs math. Since Rabbit is in 4th grade and I struggle with math, I got the teacher's manual for that pack. 2nd grade math isn't quite as hard for me. BTW, Piglet did her work she refused to do yesterday and did even most of today's assignment. I'm very proud of her! And today she really struggled with her allergies but chose to do it anyway. I didn't push, I encouraged her to try if she was able. She was able! Happy Friday, everybody! |
Aug. 14, 2008
tough homeschool day >:-(
Posted in Homeschool
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Piglet refused to do her work. She was very rude during our Bible/prayer time, refused to do her math and complained that I had decided to start reading to them a book - giving a small head start on Kentucky. I thought this book would be more accepted, it's an American Girl one - Kit - a mystery in of course, Kentucky! The girls love American Girl, especially Rabbit. (who, on here is mollygirl - after Molly from AG) Rabbit was supposed to go on a River Adventure trip today, but that was cancelled. Not enough kids signed up for it. Just as well, since the mess still going on right now. So I think the whole schedule thing has thrown the kids off a bit. It doesn't excuse Piglet's behavior. It's not like we're doing full day school yet and we've got a lot to cover this year. But I understand why the trip was cancelled and feel bad for her. There will be other activities. It was difficult for me getting back into reading to the kids - I like to use different voices, sound effects, etc. That just comes natural to me as I read to them. I'm still crying a lot over what happened the other day. But I think it was good for me to start reading to them again. If only Piglet would cooperate better. She did a little. Now if she'd do her math and well, Bible would have to be with her Daddy tonight. I'm so done right now. Going slight OT: Rabbit doesn't want to leave our church. I don't blame her. She says it's the best one we've gone to so far and she's making friends - she keeps talking about one boy she likes (not "like" as in a boyfriend but a friend). So we prayed together over this. She doesn't know the whole situation. And I'm not making anyone out to be the bad guy. I said both me and Pastor D were wrong. And that's the truth, in a nutshell. Whether or not he believes me - that's another story. |
Aug. 13, 2008
okay onto other things - like homeschool?!
Posted in Homeschool
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I got a lot of books from the library last night. My dh went and got them for me. So that means it's time to plan, plan plan for the next 2 weeks. Should be interesting. We'll be learning about the state of Kentucky and with that is: Billy Ray Cyrus (he was born there - so the girls get to hear his "achy breaky songs" lol), bats, hummingbirds, caves, Mary Todd Lincoln, Daniel Boone. Piglet will be starting history, learning about children during the colonial times - that'll be fun. I'll try to add some hands on activities to go with that. Rabbit wants to learn about First Ladies - starting from Martha Washington and go in order. That's fine too. You could do a whole unit study learning about the first ladies - like the period in history (revolutionary war), science/health - how they performed surgeries back then . And do crazy math games that I know Rabbit will probably make up. She's good at figuring out the year people are born just by asking their age. She does it in her head! And yes, sign language. Our newest subject for this year. I still gotta get the computer program together with my dh's help soon. And print out some things too for the state study. The setbacks this week have kept me from working on this. I'm still very, very but I guess it's time to let it go and move on. Piglet is begging to go outside so I gotta end this here. |
Aug. 11, 2008
1st day back
Posted in Homeschool
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This week is mostly just part-day homeschooling. I want the girls to get used to doing the work again and I think it's better to do just a little to start with. It was a small struggle with Piglet, but she's so easily distracted. It took her a half hour to do 12 math problems and that was with using an abacus! Our cat Daisy is still pretty playful and I could see why she'd rather play with her than do math. (me too!) There's a lotta things I'd rather do besides math but not golf! Rabbit is starting with fractions - yuck! (shhh! don't tell her I said that - she doesn't read my blog anyway) She's actually loving it and calls it "fun." And that's why we call her by her first name plus "pedia." Rabbitpedia! rofl I gotta get working on the sign language lessons. My dh says he installed the 2 cd roms for it but I can't seem to find them. ?? I plan on going over the sign language alphabet and number the first week. We've actually covered most of that - the numbers up to 20. I'm not very fluent in sign language but I do know some. The only Bible verse I can do is "Jesus wept" but I forget what book it's from. I think the sign language will be good for Rabbit's motor skills issues and for Piglet with how she likes to keep moving. She's a mini-taz! It should be a fun homeschool year! We're getting another thunderstorm. I hope it doesn't rain all week! There's a camping trip with my church tonight - we're not going but I'm praying for whoever does! |