• Nov. 3, 2007
Change of Address!

That's right - I'm moving! I've really enjoyed being here at HSB, but I'm wanting to try something new. Please come visit us at our new home:  http://shannon-songofmyheart.blogspot.com/ . That's where all of our fun will be posted from now on!

Blessings,

Shannon

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• Oct. 23, 2007
What we've been doing...

As mentioned in my last post, we used last week to finish up some projects and do some things around the house to get ready for Grammy and Grampy's visit. Tomorrow I'll post photos of a couple of those "projects". But for today I wanted to share what a fun time we had with the Grandparents. The kids absolutely reveled in having them here. They played and laughed and played some more. We went to Superman's flag football game on Saturday, and he was so tickled that Grampy and Grammy were there to cheer him on.

Then at home we played some more football with Grampy in the family room!

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• Oct. 19, 2007
"Grace Week"

We're having "Grace" week at our house right now. My in-laws arrived today for a visit and will be here through Sunday, so we decided to do some decluttering and other things around the house in preparation for their visit. The kids and I also took the last couple of days to finish up some projects we had started. I'll post more about our week (and hopefully with photos of what we've done) after Sunday. Meanwhile, we have all been so looking forward to Grammy and Grampy's visit and are excited about doing some fun things with them this weekend. The kids were ecstatic when they arrived tonight!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

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• Oct. 15, 2007
More Madeline Fun

Towards the end of our Madeline unit we've been learning about the human body and what a marvelous miracle it is. We've also talked about our bodies being gifts from God. This has been especially meaningful for our 6 yr. old son who has asked Jesus into his heart. We've talked about his body being the Holy Spirit's home and how we want to take care of Jesus' "house".  Tomorrow we'll be reading some books about healthy habits and doing some really neat experiments about germs with a Magic School Bus Kit that Grammy Kaye, Aunt Tara, and Uncle Gary gave to Giggly Girl for her birthday. Anything science related is usually a big hit around here, as was this cool project we did on the parts of the human body. I got this idea from Paige P. on the FIAR boards. I'll post instructions after the pics. Both kids really enjoyed doing this. I can tell it's been one of Superman's favorite activities because in two different phone conversations with Grandparents it's been the first thing he mentioned to them when asked what he was up to.

Instructions on making a "wearable" body parts outfit.
What you need:

* brown paper bag,
* 3 sandwich baggies
* paper towel tube
* flexible straws * glue
* tape
* yarn
* dry manicotti noodles (and rigatoni noodles if you want)
* construction paper heart
* labels for each body part if you want
Instructions:
1) Cut arm holes and a neck hole into the paper bag. This will be the wearable "body."
2) Cut out a construction paper heart and glue it into position onto the body.
3) Label the paper towel tube "esophagus" and thoroughly tape a plastic baggie onto the bottom of the tube. Label the baggie "stomach." Glue the "esophagus" down the center front of the "body." Once the body is worn, have the child "drop" a piece of candy from the mouth, into the esophagus, and watch it fall into the stomach.
4) Take 2 flexible straws and thoroughly tape baggies to the ends of the straws. Tape/Glue the baggies to the chest area of each side of the body -- they will be the lungs. Once the body is worn, the child can blow into the straws and see how the lungs inflate and deflate.
5) Under the stomach, glue lots of yarn to show the intestines. You could make a "glob" of yard at one point on the right side to show the appendix.
6) On the back, glue the dry manicotti noodles to show the vertebrae of the spine. You can do one vertically and one horizontally to show the vertebrate and the disc in between. I'm going to use manicotti noodes for the vertebrate and rigatoni noodles for the disc.

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• Oct. 13, 2007
Balloon Chasers

Today was one of those days where almost no school had happened. I had our day planned out so nicely, but due to some unplanned "errands" that I ended up having to run, the only lesson that we accomplished was Superman's Reading Made Easy. (He is sailing right through and doing a fabulous job! He also gets a canary eating grin on his face nearly everytime he reads the new three-sentence paragraph at the end of each lesson. I am so proud of him.)

Anyway, after running errands, dealing with a small "accident" that the tree-cutting company had in our backyard (don't worry, the only injury was to our playset), getting the girls down for a very quick afternoon nap, and then getting everyone ready to go to football practice, I was ready to hand the baton to someone else for the rest of the day. (Hubby wouldn't be home until much later this evening.) We made it through a chilly football practice with me chasing Sweet Pea for a lot of it. She had these sudden urges today to jump up and make for the parking lot, and she is fast! Even before we got to practice, I knew that even an easy dinner wasn't going to happen tonight, so I made the kids' day by announcing we would be going to one of their favorite restaurants to get carry out for dinner.

So on the way home from practice I called my hubby to trouble-shoot the "incident" that occurred with the playset. (I know, I should not be on the cell phone while driving, but I had to get his input on this, and the van is the most quiet place to carry on a phone conversation with him.) While conferring with hubby, I missed my turn to the restaurant and had to proceed through a very congested, major intersection to turn around. Just as I was about to make my turn, my 4 year old (Giggly Girl) yells "Mommy, Mommy, look, look!" I look to my left and see a very large, very colorful hot-air balloon, and it was very close to the ground and not far away. It was drifting just above the rooftops of a nearby subdivision, and I thought I could figure out the whereabouts of the entrance to the sub. So I said, "Let's go chase it!" (Yes, we were all tired and very hungry, and it was getting close to bedtime, but I just wanted to do it!) Of course, the kids were ecstatic and began telling me to turn here, go this way, etc. We easily found our way into the subdivision, took a left turn, and bam - we came right under the balloon as it crossed over just above us. It was so low that we could clearly see the faces of the passengers. So we continued chasing it - out of the sub., across a fairly major road - and by this time we realized it was going to land. So we pulled into a parking lot right next to the field where it was landing, and we got to watch it land, get deflated and wrapped up.

Now this may not sound like a huge deal, but for me and my kids it was. They've only seen a few hot air balloons, and those were from a distance and up pretty high. This one was so gorgeous in color and of course, it was just enormous in size because we were right there at it. We were enthralled. (And of course, ever the teacher at heart, I was encouraged to find out that Superman remembered the name of the gentlemen who invented the hot air balloon. We just finished The Glorious Flight a couple of weeks ago and learned about the Montgolfier Brothers.) Just to top it all off, when I googled hot air balloon to get a pic. for this post, I found the one pictured above. It is almost identical to "our balloon".  

Thank you Lord for caring so much about us that on this somewhat trying day You saw fit to send us a brightly wrapped present, one that would thrill the hearts of my children and encourage the heart of this frazzled Mommy.

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• Oct. 10, 2007
You Make Me Smile!

Thank you to my sweet friends Amanda and Heather for giving my blog the "You Make Me Smile" award.

This is what the person that created this award says about it. "The thing that I love most about blogging is that I learn so much about a person just by reading their blog. I have met MANY wonderful people with wonderful stories to tell, and I am grateful every day for each person that I have the pleasure of crossing paths in life with. I wanted to create something special for the top ten people who have inspired me through their blogging; the stories they tell, and the lives that they lead with grace and dignity. I visit their blogs for inspiration and encouragement."

Well, dear Amanda and Heather, I can honestly say that visiting both of your blogs always puts a smile on my face. You both inspire and encourage me!

Now to pass this award on. I have met so many lovely people through homeschooling, particularly the FIAR boards and through blogging. I really don't know how to single anyone out. Sooo, to all of you dear ladies who take the time to stop by here for a visit, I am presenting you with this award. I'm fairly new to the world of blogging, but each one of you who have left such kind comments truly do encourage me and brighten my day. You make me smile!
Blessings to all of you.

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• Oct. 8, 2007
Adventures with Madeline: Our Week in Paris!

We've been in France for two weeks now, first with the Bleriot Family in the Glorious Flight and now with Madeline. We have had so much fun visiting this beautiful country! Last week we "visited" some of the famous landmarks featured in the book Madeline and especially focused on the Eiffel Tower. I found directions for building a model of the tower with legos. If you're interested, here is the link. I supervised and helped out some, but they did quite a bit of this themselves. They especially liked making the red-blue pattern in the tall skinny part of the tower.

They can now locate France, England, the English Channel, and Paris on a map of Europe. We colored maps and flags, continued to add to our French vocabulary, and over the weekend Superman and Giggly Girl cooked a "French Feast" for their Daddy. Using recipes from the Five in a Row Cookbook and the FIAR archives, we prepared a fruit and cheese tray (real Camembert cheese - the kids loved it!), French Onion Soup, Quiche Lorraine, Raspberry Crepes, and Chocolate Pastries. They did most of the work. I cooked the French Onion Soup and put things in the oven, but they did the rest! We were so proud of them. They hung in their for a long time preparing this feast, and they were really pleased to present it to their Daddy. They even managed to tell him the French names for most of the dishes. It was really a fun night with everybody pretending to be fancy and using their best manners for this five course meal!

Watch out Food Network, here come your next two star chefs!

Superman preparing the crepe batter - operating the blender is so much fun!

Giggly Girl blending the quiche filling - she even cracked eggs like a pro!

The Quiche Lorraine is ready to bake after much sampling of the gruyere cheese!

Translating the menu for Daddy

And now the best part - we finally get to eat the feast!

This week we'll be finishing up Madeline as we focus on healthy habits and the human body. I'll post more later in the week!

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• Oct. 3, 2007
Four for Tea!

Last year we had teatime on a few different occasions. The children loved it, but we never made it a regular part of our routine. So this year we are going to have teatime once a week, usually on Tuesdays. It's usually just Superman and myself around the tea table because the girls are napping. But this week they were up earlier than usual, so they joined in the fun! This week, in honor of fall, we opted to have apple cider in lieu of tea, and Superman wanted his with marshmallows in it. I thought, ooh yuck! But actually it was quite good! Here are a few pics.:

I'm not ready to trust Sweet Pea with my fine china yet, so for now she's using her standard sippy cup!

Giggles thinks "toasting" is hilarious!

As long as she doesn't have to stay seated, Sweet Pea thinks teatime is great!

At teatime we usually listen to some classical music. This week we chose some movements from Handel's Watermusic Suite (one of our favorites around here). Sometimes I'll read poetry. We like to hear selections from A. A. Milne's When I Was Very Young. Some weeks we'll just sit together and have a nice chat. I think that's my favorite kind of tea time.

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• Sep. 29, 2007
The Glorious Flight

I am so excited because this week we "rowed" our first official Five in a Row title of the school year. I chose The Glorious Flight to coincide with a local airshow that we went to last weekend. (See pics. above and below.) It was soooo hot, but we had a ball and saw some wonderful aerobatic flying!

My kids are avid airplane fanatics, so this book was a natural hit around our house this week. Here is what we've done so far:

-We've focused quite a bit on geography. Both Superman and Giggly Girl can locate France, England, and the English Channel on the map of Europe. We also enjoyed looking at pictures of the White Cliffs of Dover and Dover Castle.

-We've learned to count to eleven in French. Yes, eleven, not ten, because it was the Bleriot XI that crossed the channel! :) We've learned a few other French words and tried some Camembert cheese during our Tuesday Teatime.  (We'll be doing more with France next week when we row Madeline.)

-We've discussed other modes of transportation. The kids came up with a list of 18 different things and surprised me with some that I had not thought of like "sled" and "sky-diving".

-We've used some lessons from the FIAR Character Supplement including things we do as a family and how God is with us even when we feel all alone.

-On Thursday we had a substitute teacher - Daddy! He did an excellent job of teaching the kids about the parts of an airplane and the pilot alphabet. He showed them how to spell their names using the special "Pilot talk" (alpha, bravo, charlie, etc.).  They loved having him teach, and it was fun for me to listen in on some of that.

-We'll be finishing things up this weekend, as we talk about inventors. Kurt's grandfather was an inventor, and we'll be putting him on our timeline and in our notebook as we put those pages together tomorrow. I'm also hoping to do a field trip to the Wright Patterson Air Force Museum either Sat. or Sun. They have got some really amazing aircraft there, and they even have a Bleriot XI!

Finally, we've read some wonderful go-alongs this week that I'll share here:

Amazing Flying Machines (Eyewitness Juniors)

The Airplane Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta

First Flight (The Story of Tom Tate and the Wright Brothers) by George Shea

Lindbergh by Chris L. Demarest

My Blue Boat by Chris L. Demarest

Humphrey, Albert, and the Flying Machine by Kathryn Lasky (very cute book that my kids really enjoyed)

Kids' Paper Airplane Book by Ken Blackburn

and other assorted airplane picture books

This has been a fun week. As I sit here and type, I'm thinking that we might just extend this unit into the first couple of days of next week because there are several more activities that I think the kids would really enjoy. Stay tuned!

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• Sep. 26, 2007
Goodbye Dinosaurs!

We've done so much since I last posted, but I've only got time to post the last of our dinosaur stuff here right now. 

We made lapbooks to summarize everything we had learned in our dinosaur unit. The kids worked really hard on the items that went into these, and they really got into decorating their front covers. Here are a few pics.

Front Cover - Luke traced "Dinosaur" and free-handed his name. A huge accomplishment for him!

The top book has descriptions of dinosaurs that Luke dictated to me. The bottom book contains mini "reports" on five different dinosaurs. Luke chose the dinosaurs, a picture to go with each, and dictated the info. to me about each one.  Opposite page: photos of our fossil project

This was a graph that shows the measurements of a few different dinos. We went out in the backyard and marked off all of their lengths with a (very long) tape measure. This was a fun activity. The kids really were amazed to see how large and small some of these really were. Especially Apatosaurus - he was 90 ft. long!

These are just a few pages from the lapbooks. We also included our Scripture memory verses (Psalm 8:1-4), our reading list, and some other projects and pictures.

And finally, here is a list of books we really enjoyed during our study of dinosaurs. Hope you find these helpful!

What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs? by John Morris and Ken Ham

Dinosaurs of Eden by Ken Ham

Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bones by Byron Barton

If the Dinosaurs Came Back by Bernard Most

Dinosaurumpus by Tony Mitton

Four and Twenty Dinosaurs by Bernard Most

Raising Dragons by Jerdine Nolen

Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct by Mo Willems

How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?

 and other books in this series by Jane Yolen

All of these were terrific. Superman and Giggly Girl are still asking me to read them, even though we've already started a new unit!

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• Sep. 20, 2007
Still Wrapping Up Dinosaurs!

Our two-week unit has extended to three! We've got some sick little ones around here, which has relaxed our schooling a bit, plus we've enjoyed our study of dinosaurs so much we just don't want to say goodbye to them!

Yesterday we read some more from What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs? Then we built a volcano from mud and erupted it with baking soda, vinegar, and red food coloring. Superman and Giggly Girl loved this! We did it several times and will probably play with it again tomorrow.

Yesterday we finished up our cast fossils using the fossil imprints we made last week. The kids enjoyed this too, although it took some patience on my part. (I don't naturally enjoy working with messy stuff like plaster of paris, but I'm trying hard to overcome this because the kids love it sooo much!) You can find the directions for this activity at Homeschool Share. Just scroll down to Day 6 in the Dinosaur Unit. So much of what we did came from this terrific unit plan. Thanks again, Ami, for all of the hard work and time you put into writing this!

This has been such a fun unit! Hopefully tomorrow I'll have time to post lapbook photos and our dino. book list. If you want to see more of our dinosaur adventure just click on these entries: Field Trip, Bones, and Best Laid Plans.

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• Sep. 15, 2007
Living Beyond Myself

Last Thursday Ladies Bible study began our fall study. It's Beth Moore's Living Beyond Yourself (the fruit of the Spirit). In the first day's lesson she talks about the influence that we as women have, particularly with our words. The Jewish leaders that did not like Paul's preaching wanted to incite a mob to run him out of town. Guess who they stirred up first? Yep, the "influential, religious women". (Acts 13:50) And these women got the ball rolling by stirring up an angry mob who ran Paul and Barnabas out of town. Beth Moore also points out that it was the woman whom the serpent approached in the Garden of Eden. Maybe he believed that Eve could talk Adam into anything. This is an interesting thought that had never occurred to me before.

God selected us, women, to be the bearers and main caregivers to our children. He has given us the incredible power of influence that we can use for better or worse in their little lives (as well as in the lives of our husbands). She says this, "For better or worse your self-esteem has probably been influence most at the hands - and mouth - of your mother." Wow - this really hit me hard!

God, forgive me for the times that my words have not been patient and kind and loving towards my children and my husband. Let all of my words be ones of love and kindness and encouragement, even when it's time for me to admonish and discipline. May they build up and never tear down. Lord, you know I can only do this through "Christ in me", for such a task is beyond anything I can do in my own weakness.

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• Sep. 14, 2007
Handwriting WITHOUT Tears!

We're wrapping up our dinosaur unit tomorrow with some fun stuff that I'll post later in the weekend with pics. But I wanted to pop in here and give an enthusiastic  for the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum. I ordered some of the Pre-K stuff last year and sadly, I didn't delve into it a whole lot. We listened to the CD and played with the wood letter pieces a few times, but that was it. Superman has always disliked crayons, pencils, coloring - you get the picture. So last year I just took a very laid back attitude toward handwriting and decided not to push it. This year though I really felt like it was time to make handwriting a regular part of our week. He is more mature now, and I think we're both ready for it!

So we've started this last week by using the Stamp-N-See Screen to practice letter formation. He can stamp the letters with magnetic mini-versions of the wood letter pieces, and then he can trace over the letters with a short, stubby magnetic pen. This pen rocks! Pencil grip has been a huge issue for Superman, but the minute he picked up this little wonder, he had a correct grip. I was amazed to say the least. So now I'm breaking up crayons and pencils left and right for him to use, and he's really doing great. I can tell he really likes using these fun tools. He has complained a couple of times when I brought them out, but then he quickly becomes absorbed in writing his letters. The first day we started, after he had been working with the Stamp-n-See screen for a few minutes, I told him the name of the curriculum. He said, "Why is it called Handwriting without Tears?" I said, "Because you're doing handwriting, and do you have any tears? (no) Do I have any tears? (no) Then that's why it's called Handwriting without Tears!"  Well, he thought this was just hilarious. (I love it about my kids that they flatter my corny sense of humor!) So now we'll be sitting there together at the kitchen table doing handwriting, and he'll say, "Do you have any tears (no)? Do I have any tears? (no) That's why it's Handwriting Without Tears!"  A sweet little joke between mother and son!

Seriously, though, I highly recommend this program. I think in another couple of weeks or so, we'll begin to add in some writing in the workbook along with the "fun" stuff!

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• Sep. 13, 2007
Field Trip!

On Tuesday we headed to Indianapolis to the Children's Museum to meet up with Marcy and Ben from the FIAR boards. Marcy's friend Valerie and her daughter Madison also joined us, and it was a real pleasure to meet these ladies and their little ones in person. That in itself was worth the two hour drive, making the museum the icing on the cake!

The highlight exhibit was the Dinosphere, which was obviously why we chose this museum. This is one of the largest collections of actual dinosaur bones (not just casts) in the country. It really was quite amazing to see. The exhibit has a sort of dome ceiling onto which images are projected (night sky, daytime sky, teradactyl flying, etc.). The reconstructed dinosaurs are situated amongst a very realistic jungle setting with really convincing sound effects (thunder, rain, dinosaurs roaring, jungle noises). They also have a re-created Dino dig site where the kids can actually work on digging up a dino. skeleton, a Paleo lab, and a neat play area complete with dinosaur costumes for dress up. (These were Giggly Girl's favorite!)

After spending quite a lot of time there, we coaxed the children into moving on to other parts of the museum. (I think they would have been content to stay in Dinosphere the whole afternoon!) We toured all four stories, but I have a feeling that there were still some things we did not see (and we were there for 4 hours). I told Marcy that if we lived even an hour closer I would by an annual pass. O.K., so as you can see, I highly recommend this Children's Museum if you're in the area (or even within a couple hours' drive). Here are just a few of the adventures from our day:

All of the kids had a blast together, as did the Moms! Ben, Luke, Madison, and Ella quickly became best buddies, and we look forward to hopefully seeing them at a Mid-west FIAR get-together in Louisville really soon!

So there you have it - our very first field trip of the year, and it was a winner.

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• Sep. 10, 2007
Tidbits

On Friday and Saturday we had more fun with our dinosaur activities. First we read If the Dinosaurs Came Back by Bernard Most. (This author has a lot of great dinosaur books that we've found at the library. Most that I've found don't conflict with Creationism.) This book is a fun depiction of the things dinosaurs could help people do if they were alive today. The pictures are cute and really help you get an idea of the sizes of different dinosaurs compared to other things like houses, mountains, buildings, cars, etc. This kicked off a lesson in measuring. We went out in the backyard, and with Daddy's help we used a (very long) tape measure to mark off the lengths of various dinosaurs. We taped the beginning and end of each measurement so that we could have a visual to help us compare each one. We also measured the kids, so that they could see that some dinosaurs were close to their size while others were as long as our house! They really got a kick out of this. Then we colored a graph to show the measurements we had made.

On Saturday we read from What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs? by Ken Ham. This book is a bit much for my 4 year old, but my 6 year old son begged for me to read the whole thing to him at the beginning of the week. It uses Biblical evidence to answer a lot of common questions about dinosaurs. We read the section on fossils, and then used modeling clay to make fossil imprints with chicken bones, shells, and coins. The kids had never worked with modeling clay, so they enjoyed this part of it. (Although what they really wanted to do was make bowls and cups instead of fossils!) We were going to use the imprints later in the weekend to make cast fossils with plaster of paris, but we ran out of time. We'll try to do this either tomorrow evening or on Wednesday.

Tomorrow we are going on a field trip! We're headed to the Indianapolis Children's Museum to meet up with Marcy from the FIAR boards and a friend of hers who also uses FIAR. Marcy's son Ben is close to Superhero's age, and her friend's daughter is close to Giggles' age, so they should have a ball together! We will get to see the museum's dinosaur exhibit, one of the largest in the country. I've heard a lot of rave reviews about these dinosaurs, so I am really excited for us to be able to see this exhibit. Tomorrow night I'll try to post pictures of our adventures there!

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• Sep. 7, 2007
What a "Nice" Surprise...

to log on last night and find that Heather had nominated me for the "Nice Matters" award - you made my day! Thank you, Heather, for encouraging this rookie blogger.

"This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world. Once you've been awarded please pass it on to 7 others who you feel are deserving of this award."

O.K., most of the blogs I'm nominating have already received the award, but I still want these ladies to know how they have encouraged me. They are in no particular order, and yes, I'm nominating more than seven! :) (BTW, I have not figured out how to link you to a person's page via their name without having to copy their entire URL. Neither have I figured out how to add to my friends list the non-HSB ladies, so I'm including those in my favorite links sidebar instead. You have to know by now that I'm not very techno-savy!)

Heather - I've got to tag you right back, girl - if that's allowed! I've been checking in on your blog via the FIAR boards for quite some time. You've always got such creative ideas for making learning fun (and for organization too!) Your enthusiasm for your students and learning is contagious. Thanks for your willingness to help out others by answering our questions! http://www.blogshewrote.blogspot.com/

Sheri - I always like to visit your blog to see your kids' cool notebook pages. You are one of the folks who has inspired me to try out the notebooking thing this year! I also always look forward to the funny stories you tell. They always make me smile! http://theshadesofpink.blogspot.com/

Amanda - I think your new blog is just beautiful, as is the name you've chosen for it. You've done a great job with it. Your sincere and caring words and warm smile on the FIAR boards always make one feel so special. Happy blogging, mate! http://jacarandacottage.blogspot.com/

Jen Unsell - I recently discovered your blog, Jen, and I have to say that you guys do some cool stuff at your house! I also can't wait to delve into your recipe section -  my family will be happy for me to try some of your yummy dishes. http://web.mac.com/bunsell/Misc_stuff_/Five_in_a_Row.html

Marcy - Your blog makes me want to be in 1st grade all over again - it looks like you and Ben have so much fun! You've also been a real encouragement to me on the FIAR boards. I can't wait to meet up with you all next week - The boys will have a blast together! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/profiles/benandme/

Michelle - I think yours was one of the first blogs I ever visited. I've always loved the name of it! It looks like you all have loads of fun "merrily rowing" together. BTW, I really like your "Discovery Days" idea. May I borrow it? I think that will be a great way for us to fit in Nature Study this year! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/profiles/MichelleL/

Candace - Your blog helps me to remember that you can homeschool with three very little ones without pulling your hair out! Not only is your blog a source of fun ideas, but it has also been an encouragement to me in my walk with God. You're an inspiration and you always brighten my day!http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/profiles/CandaceC/

Ami - Your hard work and willingness to share it is truly amazing! Your blog motivates me in so many ways. Thank you for always sharing from your treasure of resources and ideas not only on your blog but also on the Homeschool Share Site. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/profiles/amibrain/

Kristen - I enjoy seeing the neat things you and your little ones are up to! As the fellow Mom of a kindergardener you inspire me in so many ways. It's been fun getting to know you on the FIAR boards too! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KristenS/

I'd also like to add that all of the homeschool moms I've met through cyberspace this last year are some of the "nicest" people I know! Blessings to all of you.

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• Sep. 4, 2007
Bones, Bones, Bones!

First things first, Sweet Pea is feeling better. She is still running some fever, but I think the antibiotics are kicking in. Bless her heart, as yucky as she must feel, she still has such a cheery little demeanor, laughing and talking as usual.

Meanwhile on the homeschool front, we read Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bones! by Byron Barton. This is a cute book that is a great way to introduce what a paleontologist does. (Even the 1 year old wanted to sit in on it.) Afterwards, we looked at some reconstructed dinosaur skeletons online, and then we got to be paleontologists ourselves (O.K., the kids - not me! But I did have fun hiding the bones.) I got a box of dog biscuits and hid most of them outside in the mulch. I gave the kids each a bag and a plastic shovel and told them to go looking for dinosaur bones. They ate this up! It was like an Easter egg hunt to them. After they collected all of the bones they took them inside (back to the museum like they did in the book) and "reconstructed" their dinosaur. They worked together pretty well. We talked about how sometimes paleontologists don't find the whole skeleton, and they have to make some "fake" bones to fill in the blanks. Well, we were short a head (er..skull), so we had to fabricate our own. The kids decided that our dino. was a triceratops, so they each drew different parts of his skull - the head, frill, 3 horns, etc. I cut them out, Superman drew a face (which is a big deal for this boy who does not like art), and we taped it all together and carefully placed it on our skeleton.  They both really enjoyed this. (This idea and the suggestion to read the Bones book came from Ami's Dino. unit at HSS. I highly recommend checking out this unit if you have a student who is interested in dinosaurs!) Here are some pics. from our dino. dig.

While the girls were taking afternoon naps, Superman and I read What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs? Then he chose a dinosaur, we researched it together, and he dictated some info. to me to put in his dinosaur book that he is making. I wasn't sure if he'd get into this, but he was really interested and only bawked at cutting out his dino's photo to paste in. Once he got started though, he even enjoyed the cutting and was so proud of his work!

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• Sep. 3, 2007
The Best Laid Plans...

Well it was back to school for us today, and despite a batch of mis-shapen dinosaur pancakes, a sick toddler, and a few other mishaps, it turned out to be a fun and productive first day.

We managed to do most of what I had planned for the morning before I decided that I needed to take our feverish toddler to the ER. (Yes, our pediatrician and all of the nearby urgent cares were closed today.) As it turns out the poor thing has strep throat.  She was so tired after our long ER visit, but she is sleeping soundly now while her Daddy has gone to get her antibiotics. We're praying that the meds. will kick in tonight, and she'll be feeling better in the morning.

So here is what we did on the first day of Kindergarten and 4-yr. Preschool. Our unit for the next two weeks is Dinosaurs! I'm using a lot of ideas from the Dinosaur Unit on the Homeschool Share site thanks to Ami! When the children came down to the kitchen this morning they were truly surprised and delighted to see the dino. display on the table.  (This is an idea I got from several ladies on the Five in a Row boards. I began to do these displays last year to kickoff our various units, and they were a huge hit in our house.)

For breakfast we made dinosaur pancakes. Superman and Giggly Girl helped with mixing the batter and even pouring it into the dinosaur pancake mold. The mold apparently works better in theory than in practice (either that or I wasn't using it correctly), so we ended up kind of trimming around it to make our dinosaurs. The children were very proud of these and wanted to make sure that Daddy saw them before they ate them all up!

During breakfast we read Psalm 8 and began memorizing the first verse. I chose this chapter since it fits so well with God's amazing creation, part of which were the dinosaurs! Then we read a fun book titled Dinosaurumpus by Tony Mitton. This was enjoyed by all, and I have a feeling it will be requested again and again. Then I told the Creation story using our flannegraph set, and the children always love this! (I've only used the felts a few times, mainly because it's taken me forever to get them all cut out, but thanks to my mother, they are finished and will get much use for years to come.) We talked about God creating dinosaurs on day 6 along with the other animals, and Superman asked many good questions.

Next it was time for art. We decorated letter D cutouts with dinosaur footprint stamps, letter D stamps, and dino. stickers. Giggly Girl, who loves to color and do crafts, thoroughly enjoyed this, and even though Superman  usually bawks at the mention of art, he really got into this too. We wrapped up the whole morning by listening to a Buddy Davis song, I Know All the Dinosaurs. There was much clapping, dancing, and giggling going on during this. What a great song!

Typically I'll do reading, handwriting, and other various things with Superman during the girls' afternoon naps, but today we had to forego that for the ER visit. Thankfully my Mom is here visiting, so she pulled out some new Crayola Color Wonder stuff to occupy the older two while I took Little One to the doctor. (And wouldn't you know the first two pictures in the Color Wonderbook were both Dinosaurs! The kids had so much fun coloring these with the special "magic" markers.)

Today could have been a real disaster, but through the chaos we managed to have some fun and actually get our first official day of Kindergarten under our belt - thank you, Lord, for small miracles!

I hope you've enjoyed my first blog entry. Thanks for taking the time to read about our adventures. Other folks' blogs have encouraged and inspired me so much as a homeschooling mama and wife, and I look forward to sharing here with you.

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