As many of you who read this blog regularly know, I am a state representative for Total Language Plus.We started using the curriculum and it made such a radical change in our homeschool that I looked into representing the company.It is a great fit for our family!
When I’m at conventions often the question of planning comes up so I thought I’d address it here for now and future reference.
One of the great things about Total Language Plus is that the planning is so easy.It’s basically done for you, yet with a lot of flexibility.Let me show you what I mean by taking you through my planning this year for my 10 year old daughter who will be doing The Cricket in Times Square study guide.
First, I start with the planning grid which is in the front of each study guide.For Cricket there are six unit’s and 5 sections of daily work (A-E) for each unit so that makes 30 “daily” units of work.Besides the daily work there are choices in the Enrichment Writing section, sometimes we do lots of these and sometimes just a few.If we are planning on doing lots I may take 3 extra days per unit or if we are just doing a few I may only allot 1 extra day per unit.
I also take into consideration my other children if they are doing different studies.Many times we multi-age and are on the same novel but if they are on different ones I look at how many units they have and may adjust one so that we all end together.You wouldn’t have to do this but for us it just makes sense to try and start and end new ones around the same time, especially if the next one we will be doing together.Taking those things into consideration we plan to start the week of 9/2 and end the week of 10/27 taking off the week of 10/20 for a project week.
So the first week on her planning grid I write 1 A-D, 1PTP.That means she’s doing 4 days of “daily” work A-D and spending the 5th day of the week writing her paragraph (PTP) from her personal thinking questions.On the 5th day she would also work on any enrichment/writing that we chose.Some weeks she will have some and other weeks she won’t.I also planned the week of 11/3 to have “off” so we’ll have time to finish project or “make-up” anything we missed.I find it’s always good to have the cushion in there.
Next we look at the overview which is on the next few pages.This gives all the enrichment and writing choices for the entire study.I go through with my highlighter and note the ones we’ll do.Sometimes I decide these and sometimes I let the kids chose, it just depends.Once I have them highlighted in the overview I simply transfer my highlighting to the page/unit that contains what we’ve chosen.That way when my daughter gets there she knows what we decided to do.
For Cricket I let my daughter chose some of the “easier” things since this will be her first book in the 4th/5th grade level.She chose from the projects, #11 eat with Chinese food with chopsticks and #12 make up one sentence fortunes to put into cookies.She chose to do one of the pictures, #3, draw and color a pagoda.For the Pen and Paper exercises she chose #6, to write a news broadcast reporting on Chester’s concert.
We always discuss the Personal Thinking questions as we go through the chapter the question relates to.Each unit she will do one paragraph on a personal thinking question of her choice.My older children are usually required to write two paragraphs per unit on two different questions.
There is no right or wrong way so keep that in mind as you’re planning.This is just what I find easy and works for us.Hope it gives you some ideas and helps your school to flow smoothly.
Gina
p.s. If this curriculum in new to you and you'd like to check it out further go to the link at right under links for Total Language Plus or go to categories at right and click on TLP and literature to see some of the other things we've done with TLP. Oh, and if you want to order, I handle the states of MI, IN and OH. When you go to the Total Language Plus site and put in your state you'll get me if your from those states. if you're from one of the other states you'll get one of my good friends who will be happy to help you. I meet them every January for training and networking and they are all great homeschool mom's that will give you great service too!
Fair is done!Wow, what a week.We had a lot of fun but are always glad it’s over! There’s always some fun surprises and some disappointments too.Here’s a few of our highlights from this year.
It was definitely Logan’s (my 15 yr. olds) fair.There’re just those years that everything goes their way and this was his year.To start it right off he took Champion of the Intermediate division in Showmanship.This is the event where he shows the judge what he knows about the chickens and how to handle them.I had told all the kids this was there area to shine this year since our birds were not in the best show condition.He got 100% on his score sheet.He was thrilled!He’s got lots of placings and even reserve champion before but this is his first trophy.
Next, even though I thought our birds didn’t look very good, he got Champion pair of laying pullets with his Rhode Island Reds which are his favorite chickens.I was quite surprised!
To end the fair on the last day he did his illustrated speech on the Roman army.My younger son also did his speech on the Atmosphere.Logan took Champion of his class and Taylor took reserve for his!
Taylor (12 yr. old) also placed 3rd in showmanship (for the second year in a row, seems to be his spot), and had two chickens with honorable mention I think.For sure though his highlight was showing his bird called “Tweety”.We’ve had her for about 14 months before the fair and just one week before we left she started crowing!When we got to fair needless to say we had to change her/his class!He created a lot of attention being such an unusual bird and Taylor loved showing him.The judge even gave him an honorable mention which was a real surprise because he’s not a “recognized” breed.He’s called a “show girl” chicken which is a cross between a Turken and a Silkie.
Ariel (10 yr old) had some disappointments this year but I think her biggest accomplishment was finishing her quilt.It was quite a feat for a 10 year old.She did a nice job for her first quilt!It only received a B.They noted “to trim strings before bringing to fair” on the back of the tag as a reason for the B.We did trim (maybe we missed one or two?), but it seemed pretty picky to us.I certainly never made anything that impressive when I was 10!Ariel also placed 5th in Showmanship.She did many other projects and we finished all but one or two that she had planned which you’d appreciate if you saw her list!She’s very ambitious but also a procrastinator!
Lexie (my 8 yr old) also did very well in Showmanship placing 4th.Her list wasn’t quite as long as her sisters but she did several other things including a pillow, a poem, art, photography, muffins, cookies, jewelry and probably a couple more I’m forgetting.She feel asleep on her pillow in the car late last night while we were bring everything home.It was very cute!
We may do some things differently next year but we had a good year all in all.Grandma and Grandpa came the last day to see everything and spend the day with us which is nice.They are also a big help in getting everything at 11p.m. to go home!Many hands do make light work!
So here’s to memories of a good week and a chance to relax now and rest for at least a day or two!
You know we have our priorities set and we know what they are supposed to be but sometimes they don’t look in the same order to others as the way we think we have them.For some of us it’s our number two priority that often doesn’t seem to get the same attention.Okay, and maybe number one sometimes too, but for today I’m thinking about the number two.
For us fair week (and the week before fair) is always REALLY busy getting all the kids projects done, washing our birds and then of course being at fair all week showing and taking care of animals.With all of that going on my house tends to get neglected along with other normal life things.Normal gets kind of suspended.
With all the busyness with the kids things my husband can sometimes get left out for these weeks so I decided to do something the Friday night before fair to focus on HIM!To start out with I sent him an evite inviting him to a private dinner on our deck.Now if you decide to do something like this be sure it’s okay for your husband to receive emails at work.It’s okay to use “flirty” talk in your invite, it’s your husband!I asked him to RSVP.
My daughters really got into helping with this which was an added bonus.Why an added bonus?They are learning by example. I am teaching them about a relationship between husband and wife by what I do.Taking time and care in planning this and treating their Daddy special gives them an example to follow in their marriages someday.My original goal had not been for them to serve dinner but they wanted to so I let them.You should have seen the grins on their faces, they were so excited!I had to tell them to set the timer between courses or our dinner would have been served in 5 minutes or less I’m sure.They really did a very nice job of plating everything up.
;
To get ready for the night I made some pillows for our deck chairs.Our white wicker furniture had really needed replaced so when I found the black metal ones on sale I bought them.The only thing is the bar kind of digs into your back after awhile and I wanted us to be comfortable.It only took probably twenty minutes to take some leftover fabric I had in the sewing room and machine stitch them.My daughters did the stuffing and hand sewed them shut.
The table cloth is actually our beach sheet I tie dyed years ago and the shells I used to put in a ring during the summer on the dinning room table around a candle but hadn’t this year so I used them here.Just look around and find what you have to use.The candle came from the master bath.Now, to bring a little reality in case you’re thinking I’m perfect, I had to really wash that candle holder it must have had ¼ inch of dust!Yikes!Better add “clean candles” to somebody’s chore list!
For the dinner I went a little fancier than our regular every night fare.Figured if we were going out for a nice dinner we’d spend $30-40 easily so I think I spent about $35.It was a splurge.I must add here however the $35 did include fish sticks and tater tots for the kids (a treat for them) and I made regular size portions of what we ate so there were lots of leftovers for the kids or Chris for lunches.
For our salad we had Calico Salad.I had made it years ago once or twice and written in my cook notebook “Chris likes” so here it is.And yes, he did like it again very much!
;Calico Salad
2 cups fresh broccoli florets
2 cups califlowerets
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes (these were from our garden!)
½ cup chopped red onion
½ cup chopped celery
½ cup sour cream
2 T. milk
1 tsp. ranch salad dressing mix
¼ cup sunflower seeds
3 bacons strips cooked and crumbled.
Combine sour cream milk and salad dressing mix.Pour over first 5 ingredients listed and mix.Just before serving stir in the sunflower seeds and crumbled bacon.Enjoy!
The main course was a new recipe I tried, Walnut Pesto with Scallops.Chris liked it and said he’s order it out but I thought it was just okay (but I say that about lots of things I get at restaurants too so I guess I’m a food critic!)Personally, I like my recipe for Scallops St. Jacque much better but you have to try new things, right?
;Walnut Pesto with Scallops
1 cup walnuts
¾ cup parsley leaves
¼ cup parmesan
3T. olive oil
1 T. garlic
1t. lemon juice
¾ t. salt
¼ t. pepper
Original recipe says put in processor until chopped and combined.I used my quick chef from Tupperware which I love to do this!Next melt butter (I used ¼ stick) and cook 1 ½ lbs of scallops in butter for 3 minutes.Add ½ cup white wine and cook 1 more minute.In a large bowl toss scallops with pan liquid with walnut pesto and cooked linguini.
Now the dessert was a recipe I created years ago to mimic on at one of my favorite restaurants.The restaurant version is called Frangelica Mouse but I call mine Cream Cheese Mousse.
;Cream Cheese Mousse
1 pkg. cream cheese
1 tub (8oz I think) cool whip (I use lite)
2-3 T. powdered sugar to taste
1 tsp. almond flavoring
Mix room temperature cream cheese with powdered sugar and almond flavoring in mixer till fluffy.Add cool whip and whip slightly.Put into pastry bag and pipe into goblets.Freeze.To serve remove from freezer about an hour before serving time.Enjoy.
After dinner I had said on the invitation we’d either have some reading or games.My husband loves games and I’m not particularly a big fan.There are a few I’ll play but it’s not my first choice.So I put out on the deck the book we’ve started but not found time to get through, The Dream Giver for Couples and a deck of cards with instructions I printed off the internet for two player Euchre .We used to play Euchre in college when we were first dating and even when we were first married but somehow through 20 years and 4 kids we even forgot how so I printed the instructions.He chose Euchre (I knew he would!) and we played 4 or 5 rounds.It came back surprisingly well.
We decided then to leave the deck and take a walk like we do together most evenings.It was a good date!
So I hope this will inspire you to do something special to show your #2 priority that he is a priority in your life!Leave a comment and let me know.
Whew! After a marathon session yesterday I'm done! Well at least done enough that if I don't get anymore time before school starts (which I probably won't) we'll have a plan to get going. I still need to do a little work on the schedule of what we'll do when and I didn't do planning sheets for my youngest but the biggest hurdles are complete!
So here's what we're doing this year.
Logan (15)
The High King-Total Language Plus
The Trumpeter of Krakow-Total Language Plus
Pilgrims Progress-Ken Ham study guide
with this he’ll also read Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners by Bunyan and all or excerpts of Paradise Lost by John Milton
Geometry -Switched on School house (Math 10)
Chemistry- Apologia
Computer Science-Christian Light Education
World History-Mystery of History book III 1st semester
Government-Are you…Liberal? Conservative? or Confused? by Richard Maybury (Bluestocking Press) along with some other things I’m adding from various sources.
Economics-Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? by Richard Maybury (Bluestocking Press)
Taylor (less than 30 days till 13 he’ll tell you!)
Swiss Family Robinson-Total Language Plus
The Trumpeter of Krakow-Total Language Plus
Pilgrims Progress- Ken Ham study guide
Pre-Algebra- Switched on Schoolhouse Math 8
Chemistry-Christian Kids Study Chemistry (Bright Idea Press)
World History- Mystery of History book III 1st semester
Government- Are you…Liberal? Conservative? or Confused?(see above)
Economics-Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? (see above)
Math- she’s struggled a little here so we’re starting with Times Tales then finishing up some work from last year in here Spectrum Math 4 workbook then either on to Spectrum Math 5 or I may try Mammoth Math.Still thinking on this…
Chemistry- Christian Kids Study Chemistry
World History/Government/Ecomonics-same as the boys above although assignments from workbooks will be different
Art-Creativity Express (got from Timberdoodle)
Lexie (8)
Velveteen Rabbit- I’m writing the study guide for it
The Courage of Sarah Noble-Total Language Plus
Pilgrims Progress-Ken Ham study guide
Math- Spectrum 3rd grade
Cursive handwriting- Handwriting without Tears-Cursive
Chemistry- Christian Kids Study Chemistry
World History/Government/Economics-same as the older kids again her assignments will be different
Art-Creativity Express (see above)
For read aloud we’ll do Swiss Family Robinson, Adam of the Road, Christopher Columbus, Across the Sea biography (and unit study along with MOH) by YWAM, Tinker’s Daughter to go with Pilgrims progress unit study, Pilgrims Progress, and I’d like to find a good biography on Calvin but haven’t yet.Of course we also do our reading of MOH together and we’ll read the Uncle Eric books(Bluestocking) aloud together too.We’ll probably throw in a YWAM missionary biography or two along the way when we run out of something else.The kids love those!
Our extra curricular focus this year is Physical Education, last year we were big into music.This year the boys are talking a class on weight training and learning how to properly do all those machines (you can tell I’m an expert at this, I don’t even know what you call all those!)I’m sure they’ll learn a lot about muscles and fitness.The girls are participating in a fit kids class.They started already and I didn’t realize how poorly they jumped rope!Yikes…us homeschooler’s you know…all those “holes” in our children’s’ education!
We are still planning to continue in music but scaling down quite a bit.You just can’t do it all (time and money!)Logan plays the alto and soprano Saxophones and he’s learning the clarinet.Taylor plays the drums and bells and will continue with lessons through a mentoring program at a local university.Ariel started playing the flute last year (which luckily I play so I can help her) and she also enjoys choir.Lexie started on violin and enjoyed it but for the time being we’ve put it on hold.
We’ll also continue in our History co-op that we really enjoy.In the fall we chose to take a break from History and focus on government and the election for a few weeks and some of the other co-op families are doing that as well.We’ll start back with our regular co-op after the election.
So that’s what our year looks like!It feels good to have it all mapped out!How are your plans coming?
Wow, how time does fly when you're trying to accomplish everything you wanted to over the summer! I fully intended to get back to this "series" on planning as I do my own planning but I've been sidetracked.
For starters my son has been detasseling corn which means for almost three weeks I've been up every morning at 5:45 to get his lunch ready and get him to the bus. I'm so tired but his last day is tomorrow! Yeah!
Secondly, I try and get some projects done in our "off" time over the summer. Unfortunately so far l had not much accomplished so I've been working on that list. Today I painted two coats of paint in the kitchen. It was "fussy" painting but I think I like it. You know how it has to grow on you a little. I'm hoping to finish up the kitchen this week (another color paint, bead board, trim etc...)
Okay, so back to planning.
Once I've "thought" about last year (see last blog) and made some decisions about what I want to do or not do I'm to my next point in planning. This is where I actually map out what we'll do what weeks.
First I take inventory of what we'll use. This is simply a form that helps you keep track of what curriculum you're using each subject and each child. Next I plan out what each child will do each week. The semester plan I use is from Donna Youngs site. Here's a copy of one from last year if you want an idea.
The dates I write in to the left and I don't use the garding part at the bottom. The number's like 1, 2 etc... refer to chapters and the ones with higher numbers like 82-84 refer to pages.
This will take me a couple of evenings to complete each childs, then I get into our daily and weekly schedule but I'll save that for next time!
Okay, we've been relaxing and doing fun things and as usual about the end of July I'm finally ready to think about fall. Every year it seems like I need the whole month of June to "veg" out before I'm ready to even think of the next year.
Now don't get me wrong I have "thought" of the year as far as what we're studying and have all the books either already here or on the way but what I haven't done yet is plan and schedule it all out. Last year it took me about two weeks of evenings to get it all set. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.
First, I'd like to share a few things you may want to think about before last year is too distant of a memory.
#1 What went well and what didn't and why? The answer to this question may help you figure out what you do and don't want to do this year.
For instance last year we beta tested a curriculum about composers from Bright Idea press. My children really enjoyed this! We don't need to continue a composer study (it's certainly not in most "scope and sequence") but they enjoyed it (and might I mention learned) so much I'd like to continue.
Now on the other hand for us we started to feel stressed with our time especially starting in January. This happened because some scheduling was changed and we no longer were able to do all our "outside" activities (like band, choir, orchestra, history co-op etc...) all on one day. This small change really stressed us. I know we don't want to do that again.
#2 Make your records for last year before you forget. Now, I know some of you did this before the end of the year because you're on top of everything but for those of us who were a little burnt out or just ready to be done now is our time. In the state of MI we don't have specific "requirements" except to keep evidence of teaching the core subject so I file our papers, workbooks, lapbooks, notebook etc... in banker boxes by the year in the basement.
Besides those obvious records it may be time to start thinking about transcripts if you have a Jr. High or High School student. I'm not ready to make our transcript yet but I will forget information if I don't write it down so I created this form to help me.
#3 Lastly, before you plan for the next year consider each child individually. I created this form to help me think this through. If you have more then one you've I'm sure realized that they are all different. Your curriculum plan may be different based on their strengths, weaknesses and gifting.
So I hope you'll think about those 3 things and then come back for the next entry to get more into planning! See you then!
Okay, even though it’s summer we still have to cook at least a little!My freezer was getting a little sparse so it was time to restock.In the summer we tend not to eat out of the freezer quite as much since we do a lot more picnics (cold cut sandwiches) and grilling (hot dogs and hamburgers) but we do get tired of that and need some quick and easy variety.So I thought I’d share with you what I did last night and this morning.For more information on how I freezer cook click the category in the right hand column to see my past entries on the subject.
Well yesterday we spent the day at the beach and on the way home I stopped and picked up 30lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breast.It was on sale for $1.39 a pound which around here is about as good as it gets anymore so I stock up!Before we left in the morning I planned out what we’d make based on what we had here and what we needed yet to buy.I decided on marinated chicken for the grill, chicken enchiladas, chicken and dumplings and chicken salad ring.
On the way home I also had to pick up my son and ended up a little rushed so I shifted plans slightly for dinner last night.I had planned on making up the chicken enchiladas right away and having one for dinner but since I was rushed I looked around and found ingredients for another favorite, chicken spaghetti, and made up one batch of that quickly for dinner while I bagged the chicken for the grill.
For the marinated chicken I simply cut the chicken breast into portion sizes (these were HUGE chicken breasts!) and put the amount that is right for our family in gallon freezer bags labeled and dated.I pour over them about ½ bottle of light Italian salad dressing mixed with about ½ cup of water.That’s it, then I lay them flat (so the bag is only about 1 inch high) and stack them in the freezer.We made 4 bags of these.When you’re ready to use them just defrost and grill!
While I was bagging those I started the chicken spaghetti.I often bag and freeze this one too but for this time we just had it right away.I quickly microwave about a pound of cut up chicken while I boiled the spaghetti noodles.While that was cooking you mix a can of cream of chicken with a jar of salsa and 1 tsp. of chili powder.Mix the chopped cooked chicken, noodles and soup/salsa mixture.Place in a 9X13 and slice Velveeta (or other cheese) on top.Bake till cheese is melted.My friend Heather gave me this recipe that was her Aunt’s.She’s made it for the food ex-change many times.I modified it slightly and changed it to a jar of salsa from a can of tomato soup.I’ve made it both ways and it’s great.
Next I started on the Chicken and Dumplings.This is one that you can make up ahead and put in the crock pot for the day.Cut up 3 carrots and 3 stalks of celery into bite size pieces and place in bag, pour 1 ½ cups of chicken stock over the top.You can add some seasoning if you like, I have an Italian herb mix that I add at this point (about 1 tsp.).All of that is in a one gallon freezer bag.Take a 1 quart freezer bag and fill it with cut up pieces of chicken.I usually cut them to “small” portion size and get about 9-10 of those size pieces into the bag.Seal that bag and put it into the gallon bag.Now mix 2 cups of biscuit mix (like Bisquick or Jiffy), ½ cup milk and 1 tsp. of seasoning like dry parsley, rosemary or chives.I used parsley this time.Put the dough in a zip lock sandwich bag and place in the gallon freezer bag.When your ready to make it just place the vegetables and stock in the crock pot with the chicken on top.I usually cut the freezer bag with scissors and put it all in frozen.Set the dough aside.
About ½ hour before you’re ready to eat spoon the thawed dough on top of the chicken and cover.Don’t peek or your dumplings will not rise!Usually put my dough in the refrigerator all day to thaw or it will thaw too quickly.Most of the time I think mine cooks 6-8 hours on high but each crock pot varies so your time might be different.
Before I went to bed last night I put the rest of the chicken in my crock pot to cook all night so I could shred it in the morning.The only problem with this is everyone wakes up hungry from the good smell!It is however a great way to get beautifully shredded chicken.
So this morning I put two portions away for a chicken salad ring (both in Tupperware containers, one in fridge for this week and one in freezer for next.)My daughter likes to make these.Basically you make chicken salad (mayonnaise, shredded chicken and chopped celery) then scoop it over croissants laid open in a circle (think large “sun” shape, points out) then put a slices of cheese on top and fold your croissants over it and pinch.You then bake till done and browned.There are lots of variations on this and I’m sure most of you have done these.Ariel (who’s 10) does these herself and it’s one meal mom doesn’t have to make!
The rest of the shredded chicken I use in the chicken enchiladas.For my enchilada’s I made a sauce with 6 cups milk, ½ cup white flour, ½ cup wheat flour, 1 tsp. chicken bouillon and 1 can of cream of chicken soup.Sometimes I don’t add the can of soup but this time I did.Heat it until it starts to boil (and thicken) then turn off and cool.
Once my ingredients are set I start making my “packets”.We like to use the smaller tortia's so I pack 12 to a bag (two for each person in my family.)I simply mix about 2 cups of shredded chicken a small handful of shredded mozzarella (maybe 1/3 cup) and 2 or 3 T. of the sauce in a bowl.I fill the tortia’s with this mix and fold them up burrito style and put right into a one gallon bag.I then take about 2 cups of the sauce and put it into a 1 quart freezer bag and place itin the gallon back on top of the rolled up enchilada’s I just made.The last thing I add is about ¾ cup of shredded mozzarella in a sandwich bag and then seal it all in the gallon bag.When you want to eat it you simply thaw and assemble it in your 9X13.Place the enchiladas in the bottom, cover with sauce (you can thin with milk if it got too thick) and top with cheese.Bake at 350 about 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted.
So out of 30lbs of chicken I got:
4 marinated chicken for grill
3 chicken enchilada
3 chicken and dumplings
2 chicken rings
1 chicken spaghetti
13 meals in all!Well worth about 4 hours work.
Now, lest you think we’ll be eating chicken for 3 weeks straight, I do have other things frozen from previous cookings.Right now I’ve also got shrimp jambalaya, cheesy chicken, pork steak, beef steak, ham slices and probably some other things I forgot about.In about two weeks I’ll probably do this again…maybe beef will be on sale?
While I was doing this I also cooked a few other things to re-supply the freezer and use up some things I had.
I did a double batch of blackberry muffins since we still have frozen blackberries from last year I need to use.We can always use more quick breakfast foods.
We also have tons of eggs right now so I’m trying to freeze ahead some things for winter when our chickens won’t be laying as well so I froze and egg and sausage dish.It’s great for using up eggs.You take 16 eggs beaten, half loaf of bread cubed and 2 lbs of sausage and place them in your gallon freezer bag, then put a smaller bag sealed inside with 1 cups of shredded cheddar.Just thaw, pour into a greased 9X13, top with the cheese and bake till set.I’m thinking 350 for about ½ hour.
Again to use up eggs and the tortia’s I have left today I plan on making breakfast burritos.For those I scramble the eggs, make 1 or two cups of sauce (same as the one for the chicken enchilada’s minus the chicken bouillon), have shredded cheese (usually cheddar or mixed cheese) and meat (this time bacon I have precooked and crumbled in the freezer.)Just take the torita’s and put some eggs, sauce, meat and cheese in each one.Don’t fill too full or they’ll just rip.I individually wrap each one in wax paper and then put 20 or so in each gallon freezer bag and we just pull out and microwave as needed.
So what are you making for your freezer?Leave a comment and let me know.
Well, you may have noticed the blog enteries are fewer and farther between this summer. I'd like to say I'm sorry but I'm not. I don't mean to be rude but I think when I show you you'll understand.
Here's what we've been busy doing.
I've been trying to keep up on my garden.
This may not be the greatest looking salad ever but I grew it all in my garden! A little success.... Some things aren't going well (like the carrots that didn't come up and the snap pea's that something besides us ate!) Need to get out there as soon as I'm done and pick raspberries...ymmm!
This was strawberry day. We made up strawberries for shortcake and jam. We like the freezer kind the best. Lexie made that all on her own.
This is one of the fun things we discovered a couple years ago, tart cherry picking! It makes the best jam, cherry pie filling, crisps and much more. Each year we can never pick enough and it's so gorgeous while we're picking. This year we had a light rain while picking but it kept us cool.
This picture my dauther took on a recent trip to the butterfly building at our local zoo. She took tons of pictures that she hopes to make a scrapbook with for fair.
There were also black raspberries but we ate those before I got a picture. We are lucky enough to have those growing on our property wild. We got enough for a batch of jam, a pie and a lot to eat with milk and a little sugar (my favorite way!)
So blogging friends I'm sorry if I haven't kept up on your blog, it's nothing personal just my priorities this summer are taking all my time. I'll be checking in, if sporadically, over the summer. I hope your taking time too to enjoy! Stop and smell the roses!
This past year we really struggled with science for our oldest.We started out with Apologia Biology because that’s just what you do, right?Well it is for most college bound high schoolers but we found ourselves struggling through it.
We had to take a good hard look at , “...train them in the way they should go…” verse.You know we all say that and know that but, “the state says…”It’s a fine line.How much do we do what we think is right for our child or follow along with everyone else?It’s different for every state but the first step is to take a look at what really is required.HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense) has a section on state laws which may be a good place to start.You might be surprised at what you find.
For instance in MI where I live most people follow (and some think the requirement is) Physical, Biology, Chemistry and then Physics for high school science.Direct from the Michigan Department of Education website, it states for Science you need only 3 credits (years), one Biology, one Physics or Chemistry and one additional science.It does also state they need to be lab sciences.It pays to check it out.I’m not suggesting we don’t comply with the minimum state requirements only think outside the box at times about them!
So after much struggle in our first semester we dropped Biology and switched to Forensic Science.It’s much more interesting for my son.We are only half way through since we did Biology the first half of last year but it is much easier to get him to get his reading, study guides and labs done.(Not that he doesn’t still occasionally complain…)The topics include ballistic’s (gun parts and stuff), fingerprinting (he lifted prints for his lab), soil/hair/fiber analysis, DNA, and more…
Now, I would like to tell you he’s doing fabulous with it and it’s now his favorite subject but that’s not true.He still hates science as much as he always had and he’s still not getting an A but at least he is somewhat interested in this topic and it’s not like pulling teeth to get him to do it.It makes for a much better mom (teacher)/son relationship!
The program I found is available on line for free.I recommend it though you will want to preview it and possibly modify for your child.For instance one of the assignments uses the autopsy report for Jon Boney Ramsey.We are skipping that part as I felt it was a little too graphic.There’re a few things like that.Some you may decide are okay and some you may want to modify.As they reach adulthood they are going to be exposed to some unpleasantness in the world (especially if they are considering this field) and you may want to use this as an opportunity to put it into a Christian Worldview perspective.
Welcome to all of you I got to talk to this weekend at CHEO in Ohio! For this convention I brought two of my friends with me to help and we had a great time together AWAY from our families (you need that sometimes.) Hope all of you had as much fun as I did (even though I paid $4.40 for gas on the way home which is more then I have EVER paid!)
Feel free to explore achieves and especially the link at the right for TLP/Literature. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
Okay, I've written a blog about our struggle with Biology (I'll try and get that posted tomorrow, maybe?) But at any rate, I just came across this giveaway for Biology 101. It's a really neat DVD series that if I had seen before we tried what we did (you'll have to wait for the blog on that) I would have bought. It could be a really need way to do a more ecclectic style of high school biology.
Check out this site for a chance to win one of three free copies they are giving away! Good luck!
Wow!I couldn’t put this book down.It was so interesting!If you haven’t heard of it, The Giver by Lois Lowry is an excellent book that allows you to discuss some really pertinent issue’s with your 8th/9th grade level children.
The book itself is a good read.I read it while traveling to Washington a couple years ago.As I’d get off the plane to the seating area I couldn’t wait to open the book back up.While reading I kept “seeing” little things that would seem weird and eventually the whole picture opens up and you see what’s going on.It’s basically about a planned society that you find out near the end practices euthanasia (think Logan’s run if you’ve seen that, my son found comparisons) but it’s more than just that.
It’s about the value of things like pain, differences, independent thought and speaking up.What great things to talk about!
My oldest son did this book with the Total Language Plus study guide.He was in 9th grade this last year which I feel was perfect for this study.Many of the questions were pertinent to things we’re currently discussing.Like for instance one of the questions he had to answer was what he thought was best for marriage, either your spouse being chosen by yourself, your parents or a committee. We’ve been talking about courtship around our house so it was perfect timing.In the society of The Giver a committee makes the choice for you.
He chose to do a pen and paper regarding a career in which he’s interested.Surprisingly to us he choice to write on writing as a profession, we hadn’t heard this one before!Again, another timely question as we’re looking at planning his high school to his “bent” and possible career area’s.
Another project he chose to do was on a chart on childhood development.I think he found it interesting as he keeps telling us things he learned.One of his favorite things to inform us of was that 8 year olds tend to eat a lot (presumably because it’s a big growing year) and so that’s why his 8 year old sister eats so much!He found this site helpful in his research.
So I hope you'll check out the Giver, it's definately worthwhile!
Yesterday I dropped my oldest off in Lansing MI at Student Statesman Institute (S.S.I.) It's a week long experience in goverenment and leadership training (and some Christian worldview too!) My husband was first introduced to this at the Lansing homeschool convention when he heard James Moffett speak.
We're using it for the majority of our sons government credit for high school. What a great way to do school!
My husband and I both attended Close-up in Washington D.C. It's a program for public high school students which teaches you about government. We learned a lot and it gave us both an interest (and understanding of) the polictical process and government that we otherwise might not have had. We sat in on senate session, made our own bills to lobby and argue, met many of our congressmen and senators as well as toured the building.
This program (S.S.I.) looks very much like what we did only it's of course on a state level and most importantly contain a Christian worldview. I'll let you know Logan (my sons') impression when he gets home!
Right now he was pretty much excited to be dropped off and get to stay in a dorm room with a good friend for the week. Oh, and he gets to eat college cafeteria food (all you can eat, buffet style) which will be like heaven to him. He's a teenage boy...what can I say.
A friend just sent this to me and I could relate so much I just had to share it. Go here and read it then come back for my version. Go ahead, I'll wait....
It shed so much light for me. I have a homeschool induced case of ADD. I've noticed it only in the last few years and it seems to be only getting worse! I thought I was the only one...
Here's how mine looks sometimes... I start with my second grader at her desk but then while she's working on something I think I'll just throw in a load of laundry. Then with my head stuck in the dryer I hear my 12 year old calling because he can't seem to read his instructions for his math on his own so I stop at his spot on the couch. My second grader is now saying she's done and I answer just a minute becuase I'm still helping 12 year old with Math. Finish helping him and go back to second grader who's gone on to the next page of her math without paying attention that it changed from addition to subtration and now we need to erase the whole row.
At this point it seems to be quiet so I think I can check my messages. Start in on that and get tied up downloading some free ebooks I found through an email I received. By now, 10 year old doesn't understand something in her Language Arts and is asking for help. Printer is out of paper and I can't find where my 15 year old put it. Get through that crisis and it's calm so I go upstairs for another cup of coffee. Still quiet so I think I'll start writing a blog.
After numerous other things my husband gets on the computer after dinner and says do you need this document you have up (the blog I started at oh, probably 10:30....) And that's just how the homeschooling part of my life goes!
I have the same issue in the store when my husband is looking at things. I also understand her comment about ideas during sermons. I write lots in the margins, seems church brings out inspiration! Truly, I have a hard time getting my brain to stop ever! Seems I get sidetraced a lot (okay to be fair I have lots of people helping to sidetrack me!) So what's the answer?
I don't entirely know but it's just fun to know we're not alone!
And just so you know every day isn't like this but it was fun to relate!
Okay, reading my last blog there are a few more I just have to add.
Gardening: The first that comes to mind is gardening. This is a great fun activity and it's not too late! Last year my daughter took her own money and bought her own plants. She dig up her own spot for her garden. When friends came over she showed them "her" garden.
This year I'm trying to have a good garden. I was thinking it would be fun to keep a notebook. Why not sketch out your plan and take pictures and sketches along the way. Even if you don't want to do a full "garden" a small spot for a few things doesn't take much effort. Sunflowers are great one for kids to grow as well as morning glories. For vegetables try cucumbers and pumpkins if you want easy results.
Learning abounds here and it can be rewarding for your kitchen too!
Canning and Preserving: Okay, this one can go along with gardening but you can pick your own at U-pick places (an event in itself) or just buy your produce. The very first and easiest to do is strawberry freezer jam. I have done the cooked strawberry jam and the freezer and we by far prefer the freezer method. What I love about this too is it can be done quickly (even with very little ones helping) and it doesn't heat up the kitchen.
We like to can a lot of jams. We usually do cherry (probably my favorite), blueberry and peach. We have our own raspberry patch but we love them and eat so much that I rarely get jam. Check this site for canning directions on jam. That site has directions, recipes and more and it's a pdf you can print if you like. If you're already a pro try some new recipes this year! Oh, and don't forget your kids can enter these in the fair!
Another really easy one to can (and use up) is tomatoes. Typically, I run out of my canned tomatoes by January so this year I've planted more in my garden as I'm determined to not run out so quickly next year. I usually just can them whole although this year I may do them more diced since I'm finding I end up sticking kitchen scissors in the jars and chopping before I use most of the time anyway. Here's again another nice booklet you can print with directions for tomatoes.
A lot of nothing:Our kids are so busy these days.Plan to not have plans for even weeks!You’d be surprised what the kids will come up with (especially with a little direction.)How about a sidewalk chalk art contest?Or you could make homemade bubbles and wands.Catch firefly’s!Stay up late, watch the stars and see if you can find any galaxies!Have a bike, “car wash”.Just give them time to create and play!
I’ve been away from my blog a few days already having some summer fun!Memorial Day weekend we camped out at our favorite campsite, last week we went to our local zoo and over the weekend we visited family and met some friends at the JohnBallPark zoo in Grand RapidsMI.I thought I’d share some of our ideas on what we like to do in the summer!
(Putting up the tent this Memorial Day weekend)
Camping- Okay, I’m not really a camping kind of girl but we love to camp in our backyard.We are blessed to have 5 acres and we often do campfires so we just pitch a tent for a few days and have fun.I love that we have our own bathrooms, refrigerator and grill on the deck but we can sleep in the tent and cook over a fire if we want to.Even if you don’t have 5 acres it can still be great fun.The kids love that they get to stay up “really” late, and the yard looks so different in complete darkness.
Some things you can consider doing on your “camping trip”.We like to play card games and things in the tent as well as tell stories around the fire.One person starts the story and then we go round and add on.One year we made it into our own “family” camp at home with crafts and everything.We made a family flag, square piece of green material I had, which we glued sticks to in the shape of letters to spell our last name.We propped the flog up on their play set and our yard became “campReynolds” for the weekend.I got inexpensive T-shirts and we tie dyed them out in the yard.We also gathered small sticks and covered ball canning jars with sticks to make rustic “vases” for our wildflower’s we collected.
(My son and a chemelion he met at the zoo!)
Zoo’s- We are very fortunate to have a zoo about twenty minutes from usin South BendIndiana.When the kids were little we’d go at least once a week.Most zoo’s offer a family zoo pass.Our’s is $55 and it gets you not only into your own zoo but many others.This weekend we used our zoo pass from South Bend’s Potowatomi zoo to get into JohnBallPark zoo in Grand RapidsMIfor free (just cost gas money!)
When the kids are young they just love to look at the animals but as they get older bring along digital camera’s and/or sketchbooks.Let them make a notebook of your zoo adventures.
Nature Centers- Many parks have nature centers along with hiking trails and more.The Gillette Nature center in HoffmasterPark (MuskegonMI) has great learning not only on animals but sand dunes as well.You might be surprised what’s in your area.Nothing wrong with a little “fun” learning.Many of these center’s also offer inexpensive (or expensive it varies) lessons or camps in canoeing, kayaking, animal topics and more.
Fairs- We use the BerrienCounty youth fair to sneak a lot of school into the summer.It’s a fun way for the kids to do projects, get paid and learn something.Most libraries and stores like Rural King or TSC have local fair books.We usually enter our chickens (of course!),photography, art (painting, drawing etc…), sewing, quilting, canning, baked goods, speeches, flowers, science lapbooks, bug collections and probably a bunch more I’m forgetting.You would not believe all the categories.You can enter stories, poems, electrical project, woodworking projects and so much more.
The kids love the fair because they earn money for each project and it keeps them busy and productive during the summer.(Not to mention the fun of fair week itself!)
Beach-It’s fun to just go hang out but a couple of things you can do at the beach is make a volcano!Just bring along some vinegar, baking soda and a water bottle. Instructions can be found here here .It’s fun and creates quite an attraction from fellow beach goers.You can also bring along some plaster paris and a bucket and make hand (or foot) prints.Just dig a circle (or whatever shape you want) into the sand at least big enough to contain the hand. Now press the child’s hand into the sand to make an impression.Pour the plaster paris and let it sit while your at the beach all day.Usually it takes 4-5 hours to set (check the directions on the plaster paris box.)
If you’re going to an ocean beach it’s always fun to find a tide pool.The beach we go to in Rhode Island has a rocky area at the far end where you can walk and see tide pools.We’ve found clams and starfish to look at.And of course there’s always shell collecting!
Summer Reading -Most libraries have summer reading programs where they award prizes to the kids for hours read.You can add to this yourself by looking at your recommended readers for your curriculums for next year and offer a bonus if you kids chose those books to read.We can never get enough reading done during our school year so this has worked great for us to get in some of those “extra” books.Last June my 10 year old daughter read, Fire, Bed and Bone and still claims it as her favorite.(See archives for my blog last summer on that one.)
Okay, well I guess that’s all for now.I may re-visit this subject later, there’s just so many good things to do!Leave me a comment and let me know what you do for fun in the summer!
We are very fortunate to have a wonderful art teacher in the area.She does classes for homeschool kids at a church about 5 minutes from my house.It works out well for us,though we can’t afford to do them all the time.This last year my son Taylor took two sessions.My daughters also took the spring session.
These are pictures I took at the art festival following their spring session.The focus of the session was on painting.
Prior to this year my kids did not take any official art classes.When my oldest was young our library used to have one day classes in different art subjects and he did a few of those.They were free!Unfortunately the librarian that had an art degree moved on so no more classes.
Besides that I did pick up a basic drawing workbook for my boys that went over shading, texture, dimensions etc…when they were in upper elementary but that’s about it.
You know even with the limited amounts I’ve done with them I think they had more than I did in school (public in the 70’s.)There were mileage cuts so I only had art in elementary and even then I think it was only every other week.One week we had an hour of music and one week an hour of art.The only thing I remember doing was making a clay turtle.Hey, we did clay sculptures as a project with our Lion the Witch and Wardrobe study as a suggestion from the TLP guide.Guess I got that covered too!
If you start to think about it you probably cover more art than you think.Let’s see, we studied snow a few years back and painted snowflakes using mirror image.This year we worked on aurora’s to go with our Julie of the Wolves/Iditarod study on watercolor paper.We had to learn what a collage was (couldn’t believe my kids didn’t know this) and made one of Nautical items/terms from a suggestion in the TLP guide to go with Carry On, Mr. Bowditch.I could go on but I think you get the idea.
I just got my new Timberdoodle catalog yesterday and noticed an interesting computer program.It’s called Creativity-Express .It looks interesting.The review says , “The extraordinary Creativity Express curriculum is an innovative combination of technology and art resulting in a revolutionary approach to teaching art history, art appreciation, and digital art.”If you’ve seen this at all, let me know what you thought.It’s only $30 and up to 4 children can use it (I have 4, how perfect is that!)
Leave me a comment and let me know how YOU incorporate art!
You know, after the cold of winter it is so nice to be outside again!Even though here it’s been below average temperatures it’s still nice.I love walking around the yard, seeing everything turn green and watching God’s creation come to life.
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Last week Ariel found a butterfly with its’ wings still wet.We rescued it from the ground and perched it in our garden.I thought this picture turned out well.
A few years back we had studied monarchs and watched them change and emerge.It was neat to hear what the girls remembered from then.It’s nice to know sometimes that the things we teach do stick (well once in awhile anyway!)
>Here’s the scrapbook pages from 2006 showing our Monarch’s.I’m not sure if you can see but in the picture with the chrysalises hanging the back one looks black.They do that just before they turn clear and emerge.Many books and charts don’t tell you this.For instance this month’s Answer’s in Genesis magazine has a great pull-out section on butterfly’s.It includes a growth chart on Monarch’s but no black Chrysalis.I just mention this because the first time it happened to us I thought oh no I killed it!
You can also see how I left big pink boxes for wonderful journaling and there they still are! I'm way behind on scrapbook stuff. Oh well...
Another thing I enjoy after the winter is getting out and watching our chickens.Okay, I know that may sound a little weird but it really is fun.They each have their own personality and can be so funny.I knew we’d really arrived when a couple of years ago my husband and I propped our lawn chairs in front of the chicken pen with cool drinks to relax for the evening!It beats TV!
This picture is of our Cuckoo Maraan rooster.He belongs to my youngest daughter Lexie, she named him Prince Caspian.
Well I hope you are all taking sometime to enjoy the green!
Last weekend was the convention in Fort Wayne Indiana. My oldest son, Logan, and my oldest daughter, Ariel, went with me this time. We had fun! Thanks to all who attended my workshop! It was nice to have so many interested in what I had to share.
Besides being a vendor there the kids got to walk around a bit. I was busy (which is a good thing) so I didn't do much browsing at this one. Logan decided for sure he wants to do the computer repair curriculum so we got that ordered. He says he's going to start it right away! Ariel got another scratch off art set. Last year we brought one home from one of the conventions for all the kids to split and I guess she really enjoyed it because she put her money towards another one.
Do all of you feel like this?Finally, after a busy couple of weeks it seems things are winding down for summer.Are you glad or sad?
For us it always seems just at the time you’re trying to finish up school at home everything you’re involved in is trying to throw a year end event!We have concerts, Solo & Ensemble, talent shows, year end picnic’s, art shows, Awana Awards and more.Plus of course we are almost at the end of soccer season so there are the usual games and practices.This year just to add a little challenge to the schedule we threw in driver’s training.
Last week was very busy and this week two more “things” are ending so I’m getting excited!That means we’re about done!Very purposefully this year I’ve planned a very low key summer.By fall I’m sure I’ll be ready for activity again but right now I’m ready to stay home a lot!
As for schoolwork, we’re almost done with the core (that’s what I call math and language arts), we should finish by Friday.After that we have some non-core things we got behind on that I want to work on for a couple weeks but that will be real minor.Maybe an hour (probably at most) each day for a couple weeks.I really want to get where we should have been in Latin and Science but our composer study we may just keep doing once a week for the summer because they enjoy it so much, we’ll see.
Two of the kids will be doing handwriting workbooks at the beginning of the summer but I don’t even want to start them till they are done with their “regular” work.I don’t know if anyone else has this issue but my kids seem to regress in handwriting.When they first learn they are very conscientious but as time goes this fades.I’m hoping by doing these workbooks it will remind them of the correct way to form the letters (my son especially likes to take shortcuts in this aspect) and then later in the summer do a reward system for well done copywork of their choice.If anyone has had this issue and successfully made improvements let me know what you tried.
So are you done yet?Or maybe you go through the summer?Leave a comment and let me know.
Welcome to my blog! I plan my main topics to include Total Language Plus curriculum, using literature in studies, our experiences with homeschool and life, organization, scheduling and balancing responsibilities. From time to time it may also include chickens, Mystery of History, lapbooking, Bible study information, homeschool conventions and who knows what else!
Ariel (10 yr old) had some disappointments this year but I think her biggest accomplishment was finishing her quilt.
Calico Salad
Walnut Pesto with Scallops
Cream Cheese Mousse
This is one of the fun things we discovered a couple years ago, tart cherry picking! It makes the best jam, cherry pie filling, crisps and much more. Each year we can never pick enough and it's so gorgeous while we're picking. This year we had a light rain while picking but it kept us cool.
(My son and a chemelion he met at the zoo!)
Last week Ariel found a butterfly with its’ wings still wet.
Here’s the scrapbook pages from 2006 showing our Monarch’s.
Another thing I enjoy after the winter is getting out and watching our chickens.