Fun with the Night Sky

I rushed home from Bible Study tonight in hopes to catch the moon eclipse. I was so excited that the clouds seperated long enough for me to try to take some pictures. Of course it wasn't until after the picture was taken did I realize that the knobs on my tripod weren't tight and the camera was slowly moving down. So the image isn't as clear as I had hoped. But at least I got something, and the kids got to see something they wouldn't see for a number of years to come.

Here is what we called the red moon


And the moon peaked out just a bit before the storm front came in.



So now there was no moon... and as I stood there, I notice that lightening was flashing all around me. Did I grab my metal tripod and run into the house? Oh no... I aimed my camera and tried to get one of those nifty photos we always see on the news. This is what I was able to capture. I am happy with my first attempt.




This last one doesn't show up so well in the blog. If you click on it you can see all of the lightening veins



Of course now that my camera is all unhooked from the tripod, and the memory card is sitting in the docking station, the sky clears up and the moon is in clear view. It is so bright I can see details with my own eyes. Oh well, it actually isn't completely full until the 21st. Maybe I will try to get a good picture then, of course it won't include the eclipse... I will have to wait till 2010 for another one of those. Hope you were able to see it where you were at.

Homeschooling on the Road

Well it looks like we may be going to Australia for 3 months. What an oppurtunity this will be for all of us, especially the kids. We are waiting right now for final word on whether we are definitely going. In the mean time we are working on getting our passports together. Techie Guy started another blog (check it out here ) so we can track our adventure. I will be posting on it as well and maintain this blog for school related issues we are facing concerning the trip.

Preschool Ramblings

Little Dora's schooling has weighed heavily on my mind lately. She is starting to put sounds together, she can write almost all of her letters, she can count items, recognizes numbers, and the list goes on. I do not want to start her too early. I feel I did that with Princess K, and I don't want to do that with the littles.

I have been working on blending sounds together with her, and she is working on the craft projects we are working on. She sits in on our read alouds, but I need to read more to her from books that are her level. I think what I need to do is make a basket that will be the current read alouds for her. I also want to start reading poetry to her. She seems to love to hear rhyme and I have been purchasing some books for this very time.

I do have the McGuffey readers, but I think I will put those off a bit. I still want to keep it light for her. I think those will be good starting in August (by then she will be 5) when we will have more structured time together.

The biggest help has been her Magna Doodle, which she just loves to write her letters and come show me which ones she is working on. I love this as it is more natural. She is learning at her own speed, and this is one thing I want to stay with.

She sits in on our Bible times as well, and is enjoying our walk through the story of Joseph. We are also working on memorizing the books of the New Testament. I found this song and Little Dora listened to it maybe 10 times today. I think she will have the New Testament books memorized in no time

For Math, I am going to stick with Right Start. Seeing Little Dora's tendancy to count and group items, I think Right Start will be right up her alley. Right Start's Level A is very gentle as well, so I don't think it will overwhelm her. Again I won't start this till August and will go slow.

I think I will start the Explode the Code Books (ETC) now since she is showing interest in reading. Until I order the ETC books, I will continue working at the wipe off board, showing Little Dora how words blend together. That is our main hang up right now. She wants to sound each letter's sound individually. I have also put her on Starfall which is a phenominal website and she loves it.

Well I am going to keep wrapping my brain around this topic and praying for more guidance from the LORD