LampLight Learning

Back to School

2008-08-12T10:05:00.004-07:00

We started back to school this week and so I thought it would be a good time to ressurect the blog. This year Princess K is in 4th Grade, Little Dora is in Kindergarten, and Bubba is still terrorizing the school supplies. I have spent the last month trying to get things together, copies made, and more books ordered. My choice of curriculum really hasn't changed, we are adding in more library read alouds and readers, and projects from Story of the World vol 2 . That along with Mystery of History 2 and our library system are where I got book lists for our library read aloud additions. We are switching things up a bit with our history though. I decided to do history more in units rather than choronologically. I find that the skipping around confuses Princess K and she doesn't keep interest. I am also correlating Geography studies with what history we are on. It took more work in planning as I had to rework our Sonlight Manual, but I think it will be well worth it.

This week we are exploring New Zealand and Australia. I thought it would be appropriate since we were there, and Princess K really enjoys learning about the land down under. History is mainly about the Maori and New Zealand during the middle ages, but Geography covers both countries. Here are some of the things we are including in our week (which is how long we are on our journey).

New Zealand/Australia
SOTW Ch 10
MOH (Mystery of History) Lesson 44
Maori Coloring page (SOTW Activity guide)
Australia Map Exercise (SOTW Activity guide)
Make Moth Mix (SOTW Activity guide)
Take Journey of Maori (SOTW Activity guide)
Extra books:
1000 Years ago on Planet Earth
The Legend of Rosy Dock
The Pumpkin Runner
Reader:
Dingoes at Dinnertime
Geography Songs: New Zealand and Australia with accompanying coloring pages.

Since we are in our first week "back to school" we are going a bit light. Really we are only doing: Bible, Math, History, Geography, Spanish, and Memory Work review. Next week we will add Spelling after we finish the placement tests, Latin, Vocabulary, and Handwriting. Then after that it is Art and Grammar. I have gone ahead and scheduled out assignments through the end of November in Homeschool Tracker. In September and October, the history units take about a month... then some 1 week units start up in November. Here is our planned out schedule.

August: New Zealand?Australia & Kingdom of the Franks
September: Vikings
October: Knights and Castles
November: Mongols, 100 yrs war and the Plague, & the Russians and the Ottoman Empire.

I really hope this will work. I am not really a unit study kind of person, but this seems to be a natural flow for Princess K in regards to History and Science. We are still doing a timeline. I have decided to just print it out and put it in a notebook. As we go through the unit, she will color and place the figures on her timeline. Since Bubba kept ripping the timeline figures off the paper when I hung the timeline on the wall, we had to change our strategy.

As with anything in Homeschooling, I will probably have to adjust things. I have learned that homeschooling is not something that remains static. It must be flexible with the changes of the child.

Hiatus

2008-05-07T21:53:00.002-07:00

Due to our adventures in Australia... I will be taking a short break from blogging. I will pick it back up this summer as I plan for the next school year.

Thinking Out Loud : Love in our Homeschool

2008-03-14T15:52:00.010-07:00

My yearly planning treck has taken me to reconsidering our Language Arts curriculum. Someone on the Sonlight forums told me about the Bravewriter program. But I don't want to go into detail about that so much in this post. I am still working things out and wrapping my head around the ideas presented in the program. What I did want to think out loud about is this post from the author/creator of the Bravewriter program, Julie Bogart. This post has sent my mind on a journey thinking about what do I really want our homeschool to look like. What does the Lord want our homeschool to look like. When Jesus taught, the basis of His teachings was love.

The Greatest Commandment

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Matthew 22:34-40

So what am I doing to show this foundational teaching to my children. Am I making them "buck up" for the sake of doing work and checking off boxes. Do I take time out to hear Princess K when she says something is too hard, or gives me an attitude because she doesn't like a particular assignment. My love and wish for homeschooling was that the children would grow up loving and knowing how to learn. I want them to "experience" learning and not just keep information in their minds till the test comes around. I fully believe that we have the curricula that could foster such an environment, but am I using it that way. I don't believe entirely. Am I approaching school like a dictator or a mentor... I would like to say mentor. I do need to work on fostering an environment of less box checking and more understanding and compassion. I didn't grow up with a lot of compassion in my home, but I want to change that for my children. I believe great progress has been made in this arena, however this post by Julie Bogart has me thinking it is time for me to take it to the next level. If love is so important to our Lord and King then it should be the foremost item of our homeschooling day.

More Preschool Ramblings

2008-03-12T13:52:00.003-07:00

Wow it has been a while since I posted. My mind has been very preoccupied as this time of year I really get into planning mode for the next year's curriculum. Now that I have Little Dora starting Kindergarten, I have more planning to do. I have decided to go ahead and work through Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. It is simple and easy. The lessons are short which are great as the attention span of a soon to be 5 year old isn't that long. Little Dora is begging to learn how to read so as soon as I finish reading the introduction, we will be on our way.

For next year, I will be purchasing Sonlight's Level B Explore God's World. I think it will be fun to share the literature and such with all the kids. I am really liking to read out loud and find we do that off and on all day. I will only add handwriting if she is really ready for specific instruction. Until then we will continue to use the Magna Doodle, crayons and paper, a box of Sugar ( I haven't gotten that out recently... about time to bring it out) and other things as they come up. Once she is ready I think we will use A Reason for Handwriting. I used Handwriting Without Tears with Princess K, and it is a great program, but it was difficult to transition to paper used in other assignments. I like A Reason for Handwriting because it uses the standard print paper, it does have a Transition book that goes from print to cursive, and it also incorporates copywork. If I find that Little Dora needs something different, I still have the Handwriting Without Tears books.

Pretty much we will concentrate on Reading, some handwriting, and learning number quantities. We will be slowly starting Right Start Level A, which is a Kindergarten Math level. Since Little Dora already knows her numbers, and understands quantities, I don't think us moving into Right Start will be a problem. So that is abuot it. Now it is just getting the finances to purchase another Sonlight Core. Luckily Princess K will be still working through Sonlight Intro to World History Part 2... but that is another post.

Fun with the Night Sky

2008-02-20T22:42:00.001-07:00

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

2008-02-18T18:56:00.004-07:00

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

2008-02-05T18:16:00.000-07:00

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

Creating a Learning Environment

2008-01-29T21:17:00.000-07:00

Ah Yes... it is a classic topic. One on which I have had high hopes, but have never set out to accomplish. I have fond memories of teachers that put a lot into their classrooms with things that kept us students looking, learning and striving for knowledge and I wanted to emulate that here at home. I have also been thinking hard on why it seems school is dull lately. We have some sparks of excitement but the enthusiasm which was once there is now fading with Princess K. I wanted learning to be something my children would look forward too. This is one of the many reasons why we homeschool and I think a lack of a good learning environment might be part of our problem.

So I analyzed what was going amiss and here is what I came up with:

We were box checking. Doing things just to get them done. I wasn't taking the time to explore, experience, and in the end truly learn.

Fun, where was the fun. I buy activity guides, and extra books just for them to decorate the shelves. What a waste of resources

I had not created a good learning environment. We homeschool at the kitchen table which is just fine, however my need for a streamlined living space and uncluttered walls led to me removing things like maps, White Boards, and other learning enhancements. Even as I type this it sounds a bit crazy as my children's education should be paramount to beautification of our home... but there are just some things that I cannot get over.

Never getting away from school. Techie Guy brought to my attention that I do not step away from school. This essentially goes along with number 3 as all of the school things that are out are in plane view so I am constantly in the midst of trying to organize, clean up, and think about school. This is not to be confused with the constant process of learning but is the nitty gritty maintenance stuff that never seems to end. Or so I thought.

So what do I do. Well I prayed... and prayed and discussed with Techie Guy and over the weekend made some changes.

I am making a commitment to n0t do stuff just to get them done. I want to include the littles and we will all take part in activities. I am also making a library book list under each topic so I know what I need to order

I went through my activity guides and found things that would go along with our studies. I entered them into Homeschool Tracker and in a separate notebook, I kept a list of things I needed to copy and purchase.

This weekend I started to move school upstairs to the loft. Currently the loft is just the playroom and a place Little Dora and Bubba go to play during school. The loft has lots of room for maps, a timeline, and other fun enhancements. I will also have better access to the little ones as Princess K and I do school. We can play games and do crafts together and we are not divided by a floor. I know this may present more interruptions from the littles, but I hated that they were upstairs without us.

This bring me to my fourth dilemma. Well since I am not staring at school stuff, I am less likely to feel I need to do something with it. I have already been able to take some time for myself... Plus I have discovered the downstairs doesn't need to be picked up as often.

So I am off... working on creating a learning environment for the kids, and a peaceful home for the entire family. I have so many other ideas, but I will have to take it one step at a time. And the first step is to haul all of our school stuff upstairs.

2008-01-16T14:08:00.001-07:00

Bad days come and go in any job and that is no different in Homeschooling your children. The encouraging thing for me is that I know this adventure I am on is because it is a request from God. I am running a race; a marathon, and every so often I have to trip over a rock, fall, look up and remember that I serve an awesome God.

The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your love, O LORD, endures
forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.
Psalm 138:8
(search scriptures at http://www.biblegateway.com/)

Occasionally He needs to remind me that I need to rely on Him more and myself less. I tripped yesterday, relying on my own strength and letting grouchiness to rule my mood. Today...God is dusting off the sand and helping me move along reminding me that He is in charge and I need to be looking up.

Today I watched and Thanked God for Homeschooling, as I saw all three of our children participate in Science. We are studying Birds right now. Princess K is to go out and observe any birds and draw them. Bubba followed her outside with her Pocket Nature book. When they came in and she read her assignment, she shared with me how she was amazed where the ankle is on a bird. Both littles wanted to see these pictures and Princess K was able to share with them as well. Then she hugged Bubba (he was the last to see the pictures). I just loved sitting back and watching them interact and learn. This is one of the many reasons I Love Homeschooling. This moment of time also completely erases my pill of a day yesterday! Here are her notebook pages from her study.

I do not want to end this post without sharing a new tool. Since Techie Guy generally teaches math, I have to credit this little tool find to him. We are working through getting better and more concrete with our math facts by doing timed drill. We needed a stop watch, and the Internet came to our rescue. So the site of the day (not like there is normally a site of the day... but today there is) is: http://www.online-stopwatch.com/ . It is easy to use and has become very helpful to us. I hope that you find it helpful too (that is if you need to time something). If you want to use timed drills in your math lessons but don't have sheets to do so, please check out The Math Worksheet Site . This site can generate all kinds of worksheets for you, and its FREE. Happy Calculating!

It's All New

2008-01-14T21:31:00.000-07:00

It is a new semester, new year, new History study, and new Bible study. It feels like it is the begining of the school year. I had every intention of diving into the second part of World History way back in October. However, God had different plans. As it turns out this delay has been such a blessing. Princess K is more mature now and can take some things on idependently. I can take more time to work with Little Dora, who by the way proceeded to show me that she already knows how to write almost all her big letters and some of her small letters. Boy she is making my job a lot easier.

The past couple of weeks I have been sending my printer into overload trying to print everything I need for the rest of the semester. It is daunting, that is for sure, but I have found that if it isn't all ready to go then a lot of the fun things get put on the back burner. I insert the worksheets or project ides into my Sonlight folder under the week I want to use them. In Homeschool Tracker, I am putting in all the fun extras as assignments. Then they are automatically put into our schedule. I am hoping there will be less.."oops I forgot that I wanted to do that way back in week 2" realizations. And since it is in Homeschool Tracker, I hope that it will be ready for when Little Dora and Bubba go through the same topics. Of course this does make my folder way a ton. But I don't have it out for everyday use.

Speaking of Bubba, the last time I posted we endured the wrath of a red head. We still have the evidence of a broken screen door, but he rarely hits it anymore. Nothing like learning your lesson quick. He is finding fun in less destructive activities like Play Doh, and coloring, and hissing at the cat. Well ok hissing at the cat may be seen as destructive, but she doesn't run too fast from him so I am wondering if she strangely likes the attention. Anyway, it is quite a relief to see Bubba joining in more of our lessons, listening a bit to our read alouds, and not trying to be so disruptive. Maybe there is hope for sanity yet.

Living With a Two Year Old

2007-10-25T20:01:00.000-07:00

I just had to post a second time today. I will preface this story with saying... I have a temper. I get it from my mom who gets it from her dad who I assume gets it from his mom. Needless to say, I come from a long line of temper tantrum oriented people. This curse does not stop with me. My oldest has a temper. My 2 year old has a temper. Oh I know about 2 year old tempers; I have seen them. But Bubba takes the cake. He will bang his beautiful, porcelain forehead on hard concrete to make his point (and cry all the harder because he hurt himself). He will take a bull run at the sliding glass door if he isn't getting let in. Nothing deters this child when he is at his finest.

Well today, I guess, was his finest. Pappa wasn't letting him in. Mamma was no where to be found. And his cries for help were going unnoticed by the world. So he took a handful of rocks and launched them at the door. What happens when you normally launch rocks at a door. Well I would think just a scratched up door. But Oh no, Bubba must have weakened the glass from his previous bull runs that he does this to the door:

Now Bubba didn't create the hole. The glass started bowing out, so Techie Guy started to clean it up before I could get pictures. Like this one:

Yeah you did that Bubba. Nice Work!

How do you clean up bulging shards of glass.... SHOP VAC.... Gotta love the Shop Vac:

After the steam stopped rolling out of my ears, and my eyeballs returned to their proper place, I realized this was a perfect opportunity to practice my Macro shots. Might as well make that glass of lemonade half full right? So here they are:

and this one:

and this one (I love the glow of the sun on this one... Look at how thick the glass is.. that was one doosie of a rock!) :

Cool eh? Well I thought so. Unfortunately I could not capture the sound of constant cracking, or the picture of all those tiny lines being created. May you never have to hear the music of a broken. double-pane, sliding, glass door. (By the way only one of the panes broke.)

So remember, when your children decide to take on such projects like impaling your door with rocks, dunking their head in the toilet, smearing unmentionables all over their crib, or drawing picture on your doors with permanent markers (not that we have experience with those here). Take a deep breath and grab your camera. As you are shooting remember the future and all the times you can use those wonderful pictures as blackmail. Yeah punishment ain't enough here baby... I've got a camera!

Goodnight All!

Organizing - Year at a Glance

2007-10-25T13:44:00.000-07:00

Well I have seen many Homeschool moms use a Year at a Glance tool, and at first I thought it wasn't something I needed to do. However, I have determined that it would be a very useful tool for me to keep track of what we are doing each month. Here are the links to two of the ladies I have seen use it.

1. Jessica at Trivium Academy

2. Jennefer at Smooth Stones Academy

I am sure there are others, but these are the two ladies who have inspired me to do my own Year at a Glance. Hats off to them as they have created an amazing tool. As I have come up with mine, I can see how it helps put the year into perspective. It helps me see what we are going to study so I can keep a weather eye out for any supplemental material. I like being able to see what we have done and I will have the ability to keep track if we get behind in a subject. I still use Homeschool Tracker, but I like this high level view. So without further ado... here is mine (please forgive the quality as I don't really know how to get documents on the blog except converting them piece by piece to an image.)

It is actually 40 weeks because our current studies will go into next year... Except Biology. I thought we would be going to NOEO Chemistry after the first of the year, but I don't want to split Science between this school year and next. Why... I really don't know... it just doesn't feel right. So now I am looking into doing a short study on the Solar System. Nothing fancy or overly involved. Since NOEO doesn't have an Astronomy study, I think this is a good time to do one. So I will go off hunting on that one and report to ya' what I find.

As for the holidays, well we are planning a trip in December, and with Thanksgiving and Christmas... well that puts a welcomed crimp in our school schedule. Since we are ending Sonlight Core 1 with the Birth and Resurrection of Jesus, I thought it would be great to do a lenghtened study on our Savior at this time. I am including Mystery of History's study on the the first churches, and Paul's journey. For our homeschool group we are making ornaments for an Jesse Tree Ornament trade (ours is the Sheep and the staff). So we will be adding the Jesse Tree study in for our Bible Time. I also LOVE the book Jesse Tree by Geraldine McCaughrean

It is a story centered around a rather grouchy gentleman telling a young boy the story of the Jesse Tree. There is a transformation of the characters in the end. I will be looking to purchase it this year as I want to get it from the library every year and keep it all holiday season.

Well that is my plan and the things rolling around in my head for right now. Now to go get some laundry done. Have a Blessed Day!!!

Fall Brings Cool Weather, Open Windows, and the State Fair

2007-10-23T07:41:00.000-07:00

Well Fall has finally arrived here in the desert. Every year about this time high winds surprise us and we stand out at Homeschool park day commenting on the chill in the air and the wind that is bending and breaking some of our trees. It was just a couple of weeks ago we were still in the triple digits. Now we can open our windows, and freeze in the morning.

Friday we went to the State Fair. We had a great time. It was nice because it was "Education Day" and we got in 3 hours before the official opening so that we could go through the exhibits. There were of course cows, and pigs, chickens, and goats, and lots of roaming 4-H'rs. I remember days of county fairs where my sisiter would show her horse in 4-H. I have contemplated involving our kids in 4-H but I don't think our neighbors would appreciate live stock in the back yard. I didn't realize, till going through these exhibits, the diversity of 4-H. Crafts, sewing, photography. Gives a girl a lot to think about.

We did end up adopting a HUGE Dalmation

Because every little girl wants her daddy to win her a huge dog at the fair. This one took Techie Guy 2 games. The kids were so excited.

One thing I love about the fair is the colors. It gives the begining photographer a chance to take an insane amount of pictures of some pretty colorful things. Like this Merry Go Round. I just love Merry Go Rounds.. can't ride them so I take pictures of them.

Well for all the fun we had... we sure had a weekend of recovering. Especially from the food. Turkey legs, funnel cakes, cotton candy... my arteries were just trembling, but the fair comes only once a year and gives us a reason to take off school for the day and have a family day out. Nothing beats the amazement of kids at the fair.

Ancient Civilization History Pockets and Sonlight

2007-10-04T11:40:00.000-07:00

I have created a spreadsheet that combines Sonlight Core 1 studies with the Ancient Civilization History Pockets. If you want to see this book in person you can take a peak here: Where you can click and see every page in the book. You'll also want to take a journey around the site as Evan-Moor has a plethora of materials to enhance the homeschool journey. Now back to the schedule as I could easily get sidetracked on the other resources we are and/or want to use. I created this document while going through lesson by lesson and seeing what was assigned each day. It seems to be pretty popular on the Sonlight Forums so I am happy that it could bless other homeschool households.

I am still new in blogger land so bare with me... You should be able to click on the image to see the file in full.

Have fun travelling back into Ancient Times. Bring your sunscreen because the sun gets mighty hot in Egypt!

New Curriculum is in

2007-10-02T11:46:00.000-07:00

The smell of fresh ink, paper, and binding glue is in the air. Don't you just love that smell? That coupled with the smell of a pumpkin candle and cool mornings... ahhh makes my heart go pitter pat. I breath it in one more time and feel I just have to take a picture of it all. Well really just the cause of new book smell. Can't you just smell the ink? Ok maybe I am overdramatizing it a bit, but any curriculum junkie can tell you that after you spend an insane amount of money to bring education to your home, nothing is better than seeing it roll in box by box, sitting there on your front stoop waiting to be opened like a Christmas package. Then you lay it all out admiring your new purchases forgoing the thoughts of the work that lay ahead of you.

The bulk that lay before me comes from Sonlight Core 2 accompanied by 3-5 grade readers. Just looking at the titles makes me want to be 8 again, however I do get to pretend as I intend on reading all the readers before we get started. I was quite pleased to see so many books that go with the time period we were studying so I had to take a picture of that too.

I am thinking it is going to be an exciting year as we step back in time to the middle ages. Castles, knights in shining armor, vikings... oh the projects will be a blast. In the middle of it all I will try to schedule Mystery of History II so that we can intermingle church history with our studies.

Next is Math... may I just say BLECH...I am so very blessed that I have a math wizard as a husband and the daunting task of teaching mathematics lies on him. Oh he thinks it is great joy which completely baffles me. Of course he doesn't understand my excitement in history so I guess we are even. We ordered Right Start Level C and even though I am not a Math Wizard... I think it will be great for dd who is already picking up multiplication. Oh to be young and to actually have paid attention in Math Class.

In the back of the first picture is Bible Study Guide for All Ages. I am impressed with what I see. It looks pretty simple to implement and I can send dd on her own after we all gather and read through the scriptures. Then Little Dora and I can sit down and play Bible Games that I had long forgotten about. Someday I might get organized so that I gems like these don't get forgotten. But that will have to be put off another day. Now I must go finish Ancient studies so that we can move onto the Middle Ages.

Camping Follies Part2

2007-09-22T15:47:00.000-07:00

I just had to start out with this picture.... It was truly just Little Dora trying to be cute but it seems to sum up the way this trip turned out... Here is another one...

I already explained how we have learned the limitations of a Chevy Uplander on good ole country roads. Those same country roads did give us a view like this one...

I really need to get Photoshop so that I can get rid of the big power lines going across the photo. However I must mention that those power lines buzzed like nothing I have heard before... but I digress. We ended back at camp where we decide to go Crawdad fishing. I will have to share those photos later because some of them are really cool in my biased opinion. When we got back and were cooking the crawdads up (of which I opted for the less mobile hot dogs instead) I proceeded to trip out of our camp trailer and twist my foot trying to take the brunt of the landing as I was carrying Bubba as well. We met the ground fast and hard and it was not a nice "howdy do" My ankle swelled up to the size of a nice grapefruit and I couldn't walk the rest of the trip. It ends up I have a severe double sprain which has caused much unwanted pain and beeeaauutifful marbling of purple, green, black, and yellow on my foot. We ended up having a nice trip besides all the afor mentioned (plus Bubba burning himself on a propane lamp) events. I did end up with a cool picture of my foot x-ray... they put them on CD's now. I can add that to my ever growing school supply list. But instead of sharing these uneventful pictures of my foot to you I will leave you with this one of Bubba and the soon to be lost bucket. Ain't he a cutie??

The Great Outdoors - an adventure

2007-09-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

We decided on the spur of the moment to go camping in what we all call the "high country". We were all tired of the heat and the "high country" meant lazy days of no heat, possibly some rain, beautiful views, time for me to practice my photography, and many other things that would give us good reason to leave the comfort of modern day living to rough it in the Great Outdoors. Now with 3 children you end up really wanting some comforts of home, so we hitched up the family pop up trailer and away we went. It is such a nice place to visit in September and becomes such a learning ground for children who can only keep one thing in mind... S'Mores. So this is where we went...

Well this was actually a road by where we finally camped. This is actually the road that took us to a look out where we mistakenly decided to take another less travelled road trying to find... well we had no idea what we were trying to do. This is our less travelled road....

Now that I have been down this road I am thinking this picture should have given us a clue to why we should be using better judgement... but our baby was asleep and our adventurous sides were showing and we took the path straight on. We did not anticipate the ear piercing screaming of our seven year old (and the things that were coming out of her mouth in any other situation would have us rolling on the floor... but I digress), or the ruts that could have hidden a cow (OK i exaggerate a bit, but they were big), or the fact there was absolutely NO place to turn around. Well Princess K and I got out (the 2 scaredy cats of the group got out and went ahead to try to find a place to turn around while Techie Guy maneuvered our Chevy Uplander (yes we were attempting this adventure in a minivan) around boulders and ditches. After several attempts.. one leaving the van on two wheels... we did get the van turned around and made it back to safety.. I mean camp. And we thought our adventure had ended... well that was just the beginning. And it is here I will leave you till tomorrow where I can bore you with more details of our Camping adventures. I will leave you with this image of Princess K completely back to normal and calm. She nearly kissed our camping area when we parked the car. Poor thing.

Change is a Good Thang....

2007-09-19T16:29:00.000-07:00

Ok I had to change back to my original site. I am not blogging savvy enough to make it do what I want. So with that said I will be using this one until I can figure out things on my own and design something that fits this crazy life I live in. As soon as I can kick (well not really) Little Dora off the computer, I will be posting with pictures YEAH! But here I wait until I have the heart to send my baby girl off to a new and exciting adventure... yeah that's it Little Dora.. a new and exciting adventure !

This Day... How do I teach my children

2007-09-11T06:53:00.000-07:00

This morning I got up and as usual unaware of what day it is... but how could I forget. I ventured over to one of my favorite blogs and dear Jessica at Trivium Academy had put up a reminder... this became my reminder and the begining of a long set of thoughts about This Day. I thought back to that day which seems just like a couple of months ago, what was I doing, what did I do that entire day, who did I talk to, who did I pray for, and now my heart weeps. I pray Dear LORD comfort those whose hearts are ripping right now as this anniversary is more than just a day of rememberance but a day in which they will feel their loss.

Little Dora sits here and sings and I am reminded of my grandparents (as she is singing about hers). How did they teach their little ones about the bombing of Pear Harbor. Since I did not know my grandparents, I do not know the answer. I am sure that they probably felt what we feel in this generation. I guess it is at this point you can either teach about hate or love. Teach about vengence or about prayer. I will teach of prayer. Praying for those mourning, pray for those defending our country (God Bless our Brave Soldiers!!!), pray for our leaders, pray for those that hate us so. And teach to look for the day that Jesus will soothe all our wounds and bring peace to those that follow him. Look up dear children because the answers abound from Heaven.

A Month in Review

2007-09-04T20:36:00.000-07:00

Well we have been at it for a month and I am quite happy with our pace. I love how God has just put things into place without us even realizing it. It looks like we will finish our tour through Ancient History sometime around mid October. That will end our first quarter and give us a fresh cut into the next Sonlight Core... Core 2. Math is doing far better than we expected and Princess will be taking a final level assessment on Friday. This puts her in the level C book for Right Start. It is a breath of fresh air to hear her "get it". Math is clicking for her and I see her using it all day.

We started our new grammar... Sonlight LA for Grade 3 Readers. Even though Princess has already read all the 3rd Grade readers, I wanted to start her here seeing that it will be a bit light for her. She did not like First Language Lessons and thus has a bad taste for Grammar. I figure if I go easy on her then she might like Grammar again. I will have to report later on how we like this new flavor of Grammar.

Science is a bit rocky. We are enjoying it but we aren't as far as I would like. It looks like we will be studying Biology until the end of the year. The experiments are fun as long as we can get them to work. We had a mishap with the making of the heart model. We had a leaky valve and couldn't get it sealed up. Poor little heart could barely pump that red colored water, but Princess got the idea.

Little Dora is coming right along. She loves to be read to and loves to "read" to us. I am introducting sounds to her ala Ruth Beechick. She is slowly picking them up. She is picking up writing her letters very well. We do this very loosely. I am also doing some Right Start Level A with her. She is picking this up faster than the reading. She likes to play with her brother more and more, which is a GREAT help as he is mainly interested in seeing what he can destroy. The both participate in Bible time and then it is off to the races with both of them.

This weekend is Bubba's second birthday. I cannot believe he is 2 years old. We will be making a trip to the small Zoo near us if it isn't too hot. Seems we make a habit of a zoo trip for second birthdays.

Well I think that is it for now. Once I figure out how to post pictures easier than last time, I will try to update with the ones I have been taking lately.

So You had a bad day....

2007-08-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

That song is ringing in my ears as I finish up this day. Yeah it was a bad day at school and our house has some illness going through it. Well illness... make sure the door doesn't hit you on the way out.

Just like in every endeavor, there are bumps... and ours was an 8 year old that couldn't focus, a 4 year old that has a persistent cough, and a two year old who thought it would be really cool to destroy the house after the girls of the house cleaned it. (And I am not exaggerating here... you should see my stairs LOL.) But all is well now. Dishwasher is running, kids are in bed, and I have a bit of time to do my own thing. All is not bad though...we did get most of school done; we just have to pick up extra History and Science tomorrow. It is also Experiment week for Science so that should be a lot of fun. I know Princess K is looking forward to it. I will have to post pictures once we are done.

Praises to the Lord as these times are great learning experiences. This becomes one way in which the Lord tells me to reconsider my expectations (often using the candidness of my dear Techie Guy). So now to look at what REALLY has to be done during the day (outside of school). I thrive on reading to my children and would rather be doing that than cleaning. But my type A personality seems to go crazy at an untidy house.... Sigh time to look at reasonable standards and accept when days are icky, we should just let the house go, read, and have fun. Unfortunately the house will still be there - messy - tomorrow.

I will praise the Lord even in my trials!

Notebooks, Lapbooks, History Pockets Oh My....

2007-08-14T17:12:00.001-07:00

Well this was an attempt to put this on the Sonlight Forums but it didn't work so I will post it here. These are History Pockets based on what we are working on in history and my attempt to add in some hands on Activities to our studies. We add other notebooking pages to our history pockets. We are also starting lapbooks this year for science. I will post pictures of those as they are completed. The pictures on the right are of Notebooking pages we have done for our Greece pocket. We are also starting lapbooks this year for science . I will post pictures of those as they are completed.

The Basics of Schooling at the Kitchen Table

2007-08-12T16:42:00.000-07:00

Well I started out this post with grand plans of pictures we had taken last week and a long discussion of our curriculum choices. I walked away and thought about and realized that I can't get pictures onto my laptop yet soooooo I put all my previous "stuff" away to start with the basics. (That is what I get for walking away and letting myself think.) First off... yes we do school at the kitchen table.. and the floor... and the couch... and pappa's desk... and hopefully the park this year. Going outside to do school during the winter months is a goal for me this year. That's why we live in the desert right???

Now to the nitty gritty The one bit of information you are always asked for as a homeschool mom- drum roll please - What is our curriculum. Ok so it isn't that exciting but it is the spine to which we use to learn. It is also the cause of many a time on our knees in prayer, fists full of hair, and grotesque faces in frustration on what do we use. I am happy to announce that most of our choices this coming year are returning choices we made last year.

For 7 year old Princess K
1. Bible: We plan to start Bible Study Guide for All Ages in September when we finish with our Bible studies from last year. I LOVE the idea of this curriculum and I hope it turns out as great as I hope it will.

2. History/Reading/Language Arts: These will all come from Sonlight. Again we are finishing up last years work (Core 1) and will go on to Core 2 with Advanced Readers in September. We will also be adding to our history studies Mystery of History Volume 2 (because I just can't leave well enough alone).

3 Spelling: Returning from last year is Spell to Write and Read. It provided us with a good solid foundation for spelling and reading, and I can use it for all three kids.

4. Math: Another Returning Champion is Right Start Math. I am blessed to have a math genius for a husband and he takes over math instruction so this is more his neck of the woods. We are using Right Start Level C once we finish Level B in September.

5. Science: I found a curriculum that completely fits us. It is NOEO Science and I absolutely love it. It is literature based and just slips in so nicely with Sonlight. Right now we are working through the Biology I curriculum, and we will switch to Chemistry I thereafter.

6. Spanish: We are blessed to have someone providing this for us. Every Thursday we pop on over to this wonderful lady's house for 1 hour of Spanish instruction. Then throughout the week we work on the words and phrases we were taught.

7. Latin: Yes we are starting Latin. Call me crazy but I think it will be good as long as we take it slow. It might even aid in our Spanish studies. We will be using Prima Latina very slowly throughout the year.

8. Art: I found this wonderful gem at our homeschool group used curriculum sale. It is Artistic Pursuits and looks to be gentle, easy, so much fun. I can't wait to start it (again in September).

9. Those things with out a curriculum are Memory and handwriting. Along with scripture memory we are memorizing various poems from the Book of Virtues by William J Bennet. We are grouping them based on how they are grouped in the book. I am using all memory items for handwriting practice. Nothing builds handwriting skills better than practice. I just have Princess K put all her writing in a pretty composition book.

Well that is the basics for our 3rd grade year. We will be including various projects and lapbooks to enhance our studies. What these are I will have to go into those another time as well as what I am doing with our preschool and our ever roaming 2 year old. But for tonight I am going to bid a farwell.

Have a Blessed evening!

It's August and Bouquets of Pencils are popping up everywhere.

2007-08-06T15:43:00.000-07:00

I love this quote from the movie You've Got Mail:

"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address"

I don't necessarily know what it is like in New York in the fall, but I do know I just love the idea of a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils and the smell of a brand new pack of paper thrown in as well. Back to School time has always been one of my favorite times of the year. It signifies new supplies, new subjects, new clothes, and the start of a fresh new chapter in life. Mmmmm I can smell that graphite and paper now. Pack up that new book bag... it is time to hit the books.

Today we started our 07-08 school year and it is a perfect time to reflect why we are on this journey. I say we because homeschool for us is an entire family affair. Many years ago, long before we had children, my dear husband and I decided that we would homeschool our children. It became apparent to us, by God's divine appointment, that this was the road we must take in order to fulfill our own duties as parents. We knew family members who homeschooled, and of course were influenced a bit there, but we followed even a different path than they did.

So here we are on an adventure storybook ride that only God can write so well. We have prayed through curriculum choices, activities, and most of all goals.

1. Our number 1 goal is to raise our children to: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" Matthew 22:7

2. To give our children an environment where they can foster a personal relationship with our one and only Saviour, Jesus Christ.

3. We want the education in our home focused on and honoring to God. We do this by placing His word as truth in all aspects of life.

4. We want our children to love to learn and know how to learn. It is one thing to have memorized a bunch of information but knowing how to obtain that information and apply it makes one truly educated.

5. We want our children to experience what they learn and to understand the when, where, and how of the things they learn.

These are just the highlights of our goals, and our homeschool will be successful if we keep our eye on God and follow the path he lights up for us... One step at a time. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." Psalm 119:105

My First Blog Post!

2007-08-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

Well I am officially a blogger now! I have been contemplating whether or not to join the blogging community; concerned whether I truly have anything more to offer than what is already out there. I figure that if anything it can be a place I can share our walk with the Lord, a place I can think out loud, as well as share our adventures with loved ones that live apart from us. I don't have any preconceived notions on where this blog will go or the information I will include in it. I guess I will just roll with the punches and let it evolve on its own.

A bit about my family and I. We are a homeschooling family as mentioned in my profile. I feel truly blessed that I am on this God led journey, and I will post at another time how we decided to homeschool. We live in the desert southwest and right now are enjoying the bountiful rain God has been sending our way. I enjoy reading, crafting, researching, and lately playing board games with my dear children.

Come Monday our life will shift from watching the summer roll by and the monsoons roll in to the structure of school and the preparation of fall activities. I cannot believe summer vacation is over. Where did the time go? It seems I always look ahead and before I know it where I was looking is suddenly in my face staring right back at me. Maybe someday I will learn to not look so far beyond where God has put me - right here in the present.