Jun. 21, 2009 - Luke's week at Camp Mound Ridge
Luke went to Camp Mound Ridge for the first time this year. The theme this year was Moses & the Egyptians. 
His favorite activity was the zipline. 
No float trip this year because the river was too high.
When we dropped him off on Wednesday:
They went through a lot of cold water coolers. The heat index was in the 100's all week:
In front of the dining hall with a friend, Michael:
Breakfast with the families when we picked him up on Saturday:
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Jun. 15, 2009 - Free Stickers from GENERATE KINDNESS site
Click here for a GENERATE KINDNESS free sticker offer
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Jun. 13, 2009 - Our third week of Summer Vacation!
Luke started tennis lessons this week. This is his second year of lessons.
VBS week at church - This year it was all about Paul. Our church hall was turned into a Roman Marketplace.
Our version of chariot races:
Flower spent most of her week napping in the windowsill:
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Jun. 11, 2009 - This Week's Thinking Outside the Box Assignment
This week's assignment is to show something new in your workboxes. Since we're not doing much schoolwork over the summer, I've been working on some new things, but haven't tried them yet. This is a review for the Key Cards in All About Spelling:
Open it to see the key cards:
Match the answer cards:
Then, lift the flap to check your answers:
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Jun. 9, 2009 - Our End of the Year Party
Our homeschool group celebrated the end of the school year with a party!
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May. 24, 2009 - Last Week of School!
We're officially on Summer Break now!
During the summer, I'm going to keep the boxes going for review - but just one box a day. I made a Summer Schedule Sheet with days of the week instead of numbers:
These are some of my ideas for Summer Boxes. I'd love to hear more ideas!
1. 15 minutes of Alek's Math online
2. Times Table practice
3. DVD's & Video's (especially when it's too hot to go outside)
4. Craft Projects
5. Handwriting Practice
6. Reading out loud to Mom for 15 minutes
7. Worksheets
8. Research a topic online
Luke is a Boy Scout now. He had a ceremony on Tuesday to move up from Cub Scouts.
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May. 21, 2009 - Thinking Outside the Box
These are my answers to a survey posted on Thinking Outside the Box. To see everyone else's answers, click on the picture above.
How many boxes do you fill?
It varies from day to day. I have 4 different schedule sheets made up with - 8 boxes, 9 boxes, 10 boxes or 12 boxes. Over the summer, I plan to do one box a day.
Do you expect your children to go in order?
Yes, but we're flexible. If he needs my help for a box when I'm not immediately available, he goes on to the next one.
Do you use the schedule strips?
Yes, I made mine on sheets instead of strips. We move the velcro number from the box to the sheet when it's done. I have photos of our schedule sheets posted on my blog.
How long does it take you to fill the boxes?
Filling the boxes only takes about 10 or 15 minutes, but I spend a lot of time on the internet & going through my books, files, etc. (usually during the day when he's working on something he can do independently). When I fill the boxes, I have a stack of activities all ready to go.
Do you fill your work boxes EACH night with all new items?
Do you have some boxes repeat each day so there is less filling/refilling?
A few things are repeated almost daily - 45 minutes of Alek's Math, the next lesson in his grammar book, morning read-alouds. But I switch the order around. Everything else is new each day.
What do your kids do with the empty boxes?
Stack them on the floor next to the shelf
Do you put away the ‘supplies’ each night? or do your kids?
We put most things away as we use them during the day. There's really not much left to do except put the boxes back on the shelf for tomorrow.
Anything else you want to add?
Next year we'll be using boxes with Sonlight, which is new to us. We'll also be using Apologia Science for the first time, so I'd love to hear from anyone that has done those curriculums in boxes.
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May. 14, 2009 - May 10 - 16
This week started with a wonderful Mother's Day. First I got to see Luke sing with the Children's Choir.
Then, I got a birdhouse that he painted in Sunday School:
This week's Workbox Schedule:
SCIENCE
HOME EC
4 Cups Sugar
1 Cup Light Corn Syrup
1 Cup Water
1/4 tsp salt
3 Egg Whites
1 tsp. Vanilla
Combine sugar, corn syrup, water, and salt in heavy saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture starts to boil. Continue cooking until mixture forms soft ball when tested in cold water. In the mean time, beat egg whites until stiff. Then pour 1/2 cup of syrup over whites, beating fast all the time.
Continue to cook remaining syrup while beating egg whites, until syrup reaches the light crack stage when dropped in cold water (this will happen quickly). Pour remaining syrup over egg white mixture, beating all the while. Continue beating until candy begins to hold its shape. Stir in vanilla. Drop by teaspoonful onto waxed paper.
NAPTIME
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May. 11, 2009 - List of Workbox Blogs
If you're a fellow Workbox user, add your blog to the list here:
http://cheekymonkeypreschool.blogspot.com/2009/05/thinking-outside-box_11.html
If you're condsidering starting the workbox system at your house, this is a great link to check out too.
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May. 1, 2009 - Our First Week with Workboxes
Our first week of using workboxes went well. We definitely got more done & in less time. We also finished our Heart of Dakota history curriculum last week, so we had room for some other activities. This was our week of boxes:
Some of his favorites were
1) The science experiment - comparing soap with & without phosphates
2) YouTube videos - two were about grammar & two were for science
3) Planning our dinner with the Schucks ad. He chose bratwurst, artichokes, and strawberry shortcake, then cooked it on Thursday night.
Kate & Luke have been working on the garden this week too.
Here is Kate planting squash & carrots:
and the first signs of our lettuce:
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Apr. 27, 2009 - Working Lunch Blog Challenge
- My answer to the Working Lunch blog challenge:
I'm afraid my work isn't too exciting - the ever present task of folding & putting away the laundry. I think that laundry truly fits Webster's definition of ongoing.
Main Entry: on·go·ing
Function: adjective
Date: 1877
1 a: being actually in process b: continuing
2: continuously moving forward : growing
Monday is always fast food day (courtesy of Grandpa), so that makes lunchtime a little more fun.
Link to the original challenge.
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Apr. 26, 2009 - Our Workboxes
We're going to try the workbox system that so many homeschoolers are using now. I spent the weekend making up some schedule sheets. Hopefully it will make our schoolday more organized.
Our workboxes:
In our boxes for Monday are...
1. Brain Integration Therapy Exercises
2. 45 minutes of Aleks Math
3. Read a section of our Health Book
Practice Guitar
4. Roll the dice & multiply the numbers
5. watch an Inventoons video on YouTube
6. Growing With Grammar Lesson
One game of Wii Bowling
7. Worksheet from factmonster.com
8. Read a section of "The Story of Inventions" out loud
9. Handwriting Page
(no outside time on the schedule due to the weather forecast )
On Mondays, we never start school until after lunch, so it's always a little different than the other 4 days of the week.
I made up several schedule sheets with different numbers of boxes. If it doesn't make our schooling more organized, at least we'll have cute pictures to look at! I had a few more ideas, but my fingers were getting so sore from peeling & sticking velcro that I had to stop.
Happy Faces:
From a counting poster:
Fun pictures I found online:
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Apr. 12, 2009 -
This week we went on a field trip to the Missouri History Museum and Cold Stone Creamery. At the museum, we had a lesson on The St. Louis World's Fair in 1904.
At Cold Stone Creamery, we each got to make our own ice cream creation with different flavors & add-ins.
On Saturday, our cats turned 6 years old. They ate tartar control treats, played with paper balls, and then Star took a trip to PETCO. (Flower doesn't like strangers.)
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Mar. 26, 2009 - Luke's 11th Birthday
....Luke then
And now...
His party at Pizza Hut:
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Mar. 26, 2009 - 6th Grade Plans
I THINK I've finally decided on my plans for next year, 6th grade:
Bible - Sonlight & Class at church
Math - Aleks Math online
English - Sonlight Language Arts & Growing with Grammar
Spelling - All About Spelling
Reading - CLE Reading
Science - Scott Foresman Science 6
History - Sonlight 3+4
Guitar Lessons, Martial Arts, Boy Scouts, etc.
The Math, Spelling, Grammar & Reading books are all things that we're already using.
The Science book is something that I picked up used for cheap. Except for one chapter of evolution that we'll skip, it looks pretty good with doable experiments.
I never thought I'd be using Sonlight with this child. He's not a natural reader. (Would never think of picking up a book just to read!) But, lately, when I hand him a book and tell him to read it as part of the school day, he seems to be enjoying it. We rarely get a week with 5 full days of schoolwork, so I'm just planning to stretch it out over 2 years.
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Mar. 20, 2009 - Our Field Trip to Lowe's
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Mar. 3, 2009 - February '09
We're working through the second semester of our curriculum now. This month, we finished Grandpa's Box by, Starr Meade, one of Luke's favorites so far this year. We also enjoyed Raiders from the Sea, by Lois Johnson. & hope to find the sequels.
In math, we did a free trial of Alek's Math & really liked it! We'll probably stick with this program for the rest of this year and plan on using it next year too.
The only thing Luke has to finish for his Webelo Scout badge & Arrow of Light Award is the God and Family Workbook, so we'll be working on that instead of our regular Bible lessons for a while.
This month, our homeschool group took a field trip to the Nature Institute where we had a class on how animals in our area spend the winter:
For Valentine's Day, our church had a chocolate festival with every kind of homemade chocolate you can think of:
A homemade light saber made with a flashlight & tube:
We attended a World Festival where we saw a kimono demonstration, African dancers and a Japanese drum performance:
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Feb. 8, 2009 - January 2009
Luke's model of a Trireme:
Singing in Church:
The Pinewood Derby:
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Dec. 23, 2008 - Christmas 2008
At the beginning of the year, the Sunday School leader paired up each of the kids with a Guardian Angel (kind of like a secret pal). All year, the kids have been getting cards & little gifts from them. On Friday, we had a dinner to reveal the Guardian Angel's identities. This is Luke with his Angel, Larry.
Our Pastor George will be retiring at the end of December. He's been at this church for over 30 years! We surprised him Sunday with a gift (a Kindle) from our Sunday School class.
The kid's singing program on Sunday morning:
Flower checking out the Christmas Presents:
Luke trying out the new guitar he got for Christmas:
On Christmas afternoon, our church hosts a dinner for anyone that wants to come. This year they delivered about 200 meals to shut-ins and 150 of us ate at the church. The hot water heater broke which meant that we had to hand wash dishes! (We had fun in the kitchen though.)
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Dec. 14, 2008 - December 7-13
This week, we continued reading Jotham's Journey (a great book) & started reading Cole Family Christmas and Best Christmas Ever:
Luke on stage with the Sunday School kids for the Christmas Cantata:
This weeks crafts - Cardboard Ornaments covered with cinnamon (They make your house smell good while they're hanging on the tree.)
A Wreath made from our handprints:
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