Weekly Writing Prompts

Tonight I just wanted to post our weekly writing list for any of you that may like to see some prompts. As you'll notice there is quite a variety between them which I think is good to help strengthen their writing. A number of them I took from their Spelling Workout book, and you'll see a couple references to lesson numbers corresponding with that. We're also doing a weekly art "project" (I use that term loosely). Often it will correspond to what they are writing. For example, I may have them draw a picture to go along with their favorite summer activity or fall poem. 

Writing    

               

Week 1                Summer Activity

Week 2                Poem about Fall

Week 3                Recycling Letter to Editor

Week 4                Greeting Card Message

Week 5                Commercial

Week 6                Book Report

Week 7                Description of Ideal House

Week 8                Movie Review

Week 9                Wenatchee Brochure

Week 10                Space Log

Week 11                Research Science Report

Week 12                Science Report

Week 13                Accident Report

Week 14                Description of Hawaii

Week 15                Topic Sentences/Haiku

Week 16                Business Letter

Week 17                Research History Report

Week 18                History Report

Week 19                News Story

Week 20                Q&A

Week 21                School Class Ad

Week 22                Tall Tale

Week 23                Persuasive Letter

Week 24                Book Report

Week 25                Alliteration and Onomatopoeia (see lesson 33)

Week 26                Train Trip Description

Week 27                Personification (see lesson 34)

Week 28                Amusement Park Brochure

Week 29                Research Science Report

Week 30                Science Report

Week 31                Menu

Week 32                Description with Similies

Week 33                Description with Metaphors

Week 34                Research History Report

Week 35                History Report

More pics from our time in CA...Santa Barbara Zoo, I think
 

 

 

 

School Update

It's pretty crazy to think we're already three plus months into our school year! It sure has gone fast, and I'm not sure where! This year finds us doing 7th grade work which seems to be a whole different level. Everything is a bit more in depth and challenging, but I guess that's the way it should be. :) I was really excited to do math this year because we began Pre-Algebra! Yay, hooray! I've been waiting for this day! Actually, we're already almost all the way through their books as so much of it was review, and some of it was weird...why do the kids need to know about life insurance right now? The kids have seemed to get it pretty quickly, but I'm not sure they love it as much as I do. They even did amazingly well with those awful algebra based age problems...if Johnny is two times Susie's age and the sum of their ages is 33, what is Johnny's age? Hannah still has a love/hate relationship with math, but hopefully that will be remedied at some point in her life. 

We've also jumped to the next level with Apologia's science. General Science is the title and it's been pretty heavy so far with explanations about the history of science and the scientific theory. The chapter we just began is a bit more fun with discussion of levers and such. I guess it's a good overview, but I'm missing our old Apologia some. 

History has marched on into the Middle Ages. We've enjoyed lots of Renaissance reading and the beginning of the Reformation. 

Spelling Workout has been great again. The kids can already spell most of the words pretty well (Josh has gotten much better...maybe that's because there are computer minutes involved), but it does a great job of bringing in new vocabulary which I hadn't appreciated as much as I have this year.

We aren't doing any official reading curriculum currently, but I've brought back our read alouds in full force as I had really missed them last year. In theory, we're reading something that ties in with our history era, but that's not always the case. For example, we just read The Little Prince which I've always loved, but it has nothing to do with history. My idea is to ask good, though-provoking questions as we read in order to challenge their comprehension and critical thinking skills. 

Grammar, grammar, grammar...the bane of my homeschooling existence. I don't know what to say about this subject...it's always a flail...and the kids never seem to quite grasp which word is a helping verb or a preposition. Sometimes I feel like I see glimmers of hope, but they are often quickly dashed. :) Basically, I've been contenting myself that they are both pretty good writers and that's more important. 

Speaking of writing, I just put together a list of topics to assign each week on all sorts of things. And, this year, I've begun grading them. Hannah thinks that's the best thing around and Josh could really care less. Writing is quite subjective to grade I must say. 

Logic is a new subject we introduced this year. We're doing Bluedorn's Fallacy Detective which although very fun to read is, in fact, very difficult to determine which fallacy is being presented. I probably get about half of them wrong. Hannah is the best at it generally. The kids love yelling out "red herring" randomly throughout the day when people change topics of conversation. They don't seem to get that moving on to a new subject is not always a red herring. :)

And, lastly, but firstly in our school days...bible. We finally finished up Book of God which I'll have to do a review on sometime here. Keys for Kids (we use the ones from my childhood) continue to be a big piece of that time...the kids really enjoy them and they bring up good discussion points oftentimes. We also began Truth Made Simple a short time ago which we've all been liking. Actually, there's a really cool story in there about a world without God's purposeful order that is just fascinating...I hope to post it someday. The old, traditional hymns are also still part of our bible time...I really love that. 

Well, that sure rambled on longer than I had anticipated...if you've read this far, thanks for hanging in till the end. :) Feel free to post any school related comments...

Here are some pics from our last minute trip to see my sis back in Aug
 

 

 

 

 

Patience Poem

Hannah also wrote a fruit of the Spirit poem...hers is a bit more "traditional" though. :) I like that my kiddos use good words...comes from all the books they read.  

Patience

Patience is waiting when you don't want to wait

Patience is not grumbling when someone is late

Patience is not fretting when you're a little off time

With patience everything seems sublime!

Patience means listening when someone is taking a while

and keeping on listening with a smile!

Remember to have patience in all that you do

And it will make a happier you!

Dave decided to begin playing the guitar a couple of weeks ago
He and Hannah have been working on playing Bless The Lord together
 

My Mommy I Love...

Hi, friends...sorry it's been so quiet around here. Lots going on and not too much in a mood for writing. Hope you haven't missed us too much. :) Tonight I just wanted to share a crazy poem Josh wrote this week. I had assigned them to choose one aspect of the fruit of the Spirit and write 8 lines about it...

My mommy I love

She looks like a dove

She is so cute

She is a beut

I love my mommy so

I wouldn't say no, no

She spanks and teaches us

She doesn't let us cuss

(A couple of notes...I can't recall the last time I spanked either of the kids, and I think there was more focus on finding rhyming words that actual facts) :) Josh is a closet romantic...I'm interested in what his wife will be like. 

Some beautiful pics up near Silver Falls
(couldn't get all that way because there was still snow blocking the road)
 

 

 

 

Kids and Blogging

For any of you who have been reading my blog for a while, you know that my kiddos created a blog a while back. However, after they did two posts, they quit. :) So, this past week, I put "write a blog post" as one of their school assignments...and, voila! their blog is back in action. They've actually been going crazy with it, writing up information about their ninja ideas, taking videos (which I can't seem to get to post), and thinking up new stuff. I realized what a great learning tool it is: typing, writing, creativity, punctuation, photography, videography, etc. Plus, they are loving it right now. Part of why I think it has gone better this time around is because they are better typers and their ability to make coherent sentences has improved dramatically. :) So, if you get a chance, check it out: http://kidkreation1.blogspot.com/

And, let me know if any of your kids have blogs. :)

Comment made by Hannah as I was tucking her into bed, "I like to sleep with my sword...just in case." :)

Josh set up this lego scene the other day
 

The Importance of Relationship

Just thinking tonight about relationships...about how just because we live with people it doesn't mean we have a true relationship with them. I think one of the big pitfalls for homeschool moms is to think they have a good relationship with their kiddos simply because they spend tons of time together. Of course, we do spend lots of time together, but that doesn't necessarily mean we are really relating meaningfully to one another. Hashing through math facts, giving spelling tests, and doing another hour of read-alouds doesn't necessarily knit the souls together. It is easy to get caught up in the doing and miss the being. That is something I've been learning slowly but surely over the past years of homeschooling (and life). Yes, my kiddos need some level of an education, but they don't need an education to the negation of a happy home life...where mom doesn't have time for them apart from school time. 

Especially as my kiddos have gotten older, I've seen how they glow when I really address them on their level...when I honestly and truly engage in conversation with them...when I spend time playing/doing something they enjoy...when I take time away from my "list of things to do" and just interact with them. A true relationship isn't just proximity, it takes intentionality...it takes work.

Today was a lovely day...filled with not a whole lot more than being together. Nothing major was accomplished (today is our "off day" for school), but general peace and pleasantness abounded (with a few episodes of bickering added in...continuing to work on that). These are some of my favorite days...I don't think the day will come where I wish I would have filled them up with outside commitments and more fact recitations. No, my kids are not slated to become professional athletes or musicians, and I doubt they will make their mark in the academic world...but, that's okay with me. I do hope they will be known for their love to God and man, and much of that begins in the day-to-day of the home. 

This concept also holds true for our husbands. Dave and I are going on 17 years of marriage come this May! It seems so easy to drift apart as the years go by even though we are physically together most all evenings and weekends. A good marriage relationship also takes daily effort...the kind, encouraging word here...the small, loving touch there...the setting aside of the computer/tv/phone to have some real conversation...the taking of steps to be vulnerable...the showing of appreciation for the little things...the choice to put the other first. I feel like I have neglected doing those things as well as I should lately...so watch out Dave! ;)

I know none of  these thoughts are new or unique, but somehow they always seem to so quickly be forgotten, at least for me. Anyways, my hope is that this encourages you to pursue those around you in a meaningful way...

Also, here's an article I came across the other day that I wanted to share: 

Can't You See that I'm Busy? by Alcorn

And, this post is a good place to refer again to what has been a very beneficial article for me that speaks, in part, to the importance of relationship:
Solving the Crisis in Homeschooling (not just for parents of homeschoolers) by Bradley

the mall near our condo in Hawaii was just lovely...
 

some more random beach pics
 

the black rock against the blue ocean was so stunning
 

Faithfulness

Hannah and I have been slowly going through a new devotional-type thing at night on occasion called Polished Cornerstones (Dave and Josh are going through the boys version, Plants Grown Up). Anyways, we finished a section tonight on being a reliable woman and at the end there was a note to the parent followed by assessment questions for the child. What it said really challenged me, especially as a home school mom so I thought I'd share it with all of you...

A wife or mother must be faithful in her many responsibilities or the entire family will suffer. She cannot set aside duties until she is "in the mood." Others are counting on her to be faithful

We must prepare our daughters for this responsibility. Teach them to work diligently at household chores and personal responsibilities. Train them well, and then require high-quality work with a cheerful heart.

A child's chief occupation includes the duties of being a student. Treat your daughter's education as her daily job, and teach her good work habits while she applies herself to learning. 

---It made me really think about the generally lax atmosphere we have around here with school work and the need to instill diligence now for the future benefit of Hannah and Josh's households. 

beautiful sunrise earlier this week
 

2 Kid Poems

A week or so ago, the kiddos had to write an eight line poem. So, I thought I'd share them with you:

Snowflakes

Snowflakes whirl and twirl in the air

They land on your nose or on your hair.

You can clump them up for a snowball

But, still they will continue to fall!

You can ski and sled on it too

Or make a snowman that looks just like you!

Then a snow angel you can make

Or decorate an icy cake.

by Hannah Weber

---------------------------

The Frog

My favorite animal is a frog

That jumps from tree to tree

It leaps over the log

So fast that you can't see

It flies through space

As a bird flies on air

It's cute little face

Looks quite good without hair.

by Josh Weber

a beautiful sunrise the other morning
 

1st Month Recap

It is somewhat shocking to me that it is already October! I'm not sure where Sept went, but we sure were busy. That busyness caused there to not be a lot of really good, consistent school, but we actually did accomplish a pretty good amount looking back...

Personal work (stuff the kids are given to do on their own and turn in on Friday):

Math - Abeka 6 is going well with very little input from me although we go over missed problems the following week

Handwriting: I had to drop Josh back to just working on basic letter form (his handwriting is terrible), Hannah is enjoying her quote and jokes handwriting

Spelling: the words have been quite difficult so far, Hannah is a good speller so does fine, but Josh has struggled a bit

Paragraph Editing: just getting going on that

Other:

Science - love, love, loving Apologia science on the human body - so far some already fun experiments and great information - probably my favorite one yet

History - Mystery of History has been going well - I'm liking it better this year, pretty similar to SOTW, but with a decidedly Christian view - still not many good activities though, I actually purchased SOTW II to pull some of their activities in, but just haven't had the time to do that

Spanish - pretty pitiful amount done so far

Grammar - the kids seem to really be enjoying Giggly Guide to Grammar - the author does a good job at using some quite clever examples for the kids to work on - it does make the exercise take a bit longer, though, because of the laughing and some explaining that is needed. Here's a couple examples, "After dining on a scrumptious meal of frog legs and chips, the beautiful princess was distraught to learn that she had just eaten her Prince Charming." and "During the day, Barney flips burgers, and every night he earns extra cash as a speed bump." 

I also made up a form for each week that seems like it will work well and help me remember what the kids are supposed to be doing. I have a hard time keeping track of what all has been assigned. It also has a spot for other if work needs to be redone from the previous week. 

I also wanted to give an update on the "grand experiment" of last year's homeschooling. We did three days on, two days off, not really year round. I was wondering how the kids would do on their required test for the year with a much less rigorous schedule than we had previously held. So, we received our test scores last week, and the kids did great! To be honest, I felt that they would do just fine, and it was a great confirmation that they did. :)

Hooray that October is here and hopefully things will slow down a bit and get more routine...hope you all have had a good start to your school years...

some pics from King Tut
 

 

 

 

2012/2013 School Schedule

At long last, I'm finally getting around to working on my school schedule for this next year. Since the theory was that we would be doing school year round, it never felt like school really ended. However, I can only count maybe one or two days that we actually did a real day of school over the summer - there were maybe a couple back in June, but not much at all since. I have managed to squeeze in a math page about three times a week though. :)

I talked with the kids on the way home from the lake yesterday and they wanted to go to a four days on, one day off schedule. I don't think we could swing a full five-day schedule with as many distractions as we somehow seem to have. Right now we're scheduled to have piano lessons on Wed afternoons and will likely continue our volunteering at Haven of Hope every other week on that day as well. 

	Monday	Tuesday	Thursday	Friday
8:30-9:00	Bible Time	Bible Time	Bible Time	Bible Time
9:00-9:10	Math Facts	Math Cards	Math Facts	Math Cards
9:10-9:20	Spelling Words	Piano Notes	Piano Notes	Piano Notes
9:20-9:30	Math Concept	Math Concept	Math Concept	Math Concept
9:30-9:45	Grammar	Grammar	Grammar	Grammar
9:45-10:15	Outside Break	Outside Break	Outside Break	Outside Break
10:15-12:00	Personal Work	Personal Work	Personal Work	Personal Work
12:00-12:30	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
12:30-1:30	Comp/Book	Typ/Book	Comp/Book	Typ/Book
1:30-2:30	Science	History	Science/Project	History/Project
2:30-3:00	Spanish/Speech	Spanish/Misc	Spanish/Speech	Spanish/Misc
3:00	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack

So, what do all these things mean and what curriculum are we using???

Bible Time - we'll probably keep going with what we've been doing over the summer - Singing Hymns, Keys for Kids (the kids really like these, I use the ones from my childhood), and working through short passages in the epistles (for each passage everyone picks out what we learn about God and what we learn about man)

The first half hour after that is kind of drill work - add/sub/mult/div facts, math cards are the Abeka cards that review measures (days in a year, pints in a quart, normal body temp, etc). Piano notes are just to more quickly recognize notes on the piano scale. Math concept is just to prep the kids to work on their math page if the concept is new or needs a refresher

Grammar - this year I just purchased a book called Giggly Guide to Grammar. I don't know much about it apart from its good reviews so we'll see how it works out. I wanted to break from Rod and Staff for a bit. We'll also do paragraph editing and my plan is for them to color code the parts of speech in those exercises as well. 

The kids wanted outside time in the morning so we threw that in the middle of the morning.

Personal Work - this is a new concept for us. Since they're getting older and will someday have to live in the real world, I figured it was time they started more self-directed work. So, in this block, they'll do their math page (they wanted to go back to Abeka, I personally enjoyed what we used this past year however difficult it was), spelling sheets (Spelling Workout F), paragraph editing, any writing, and poetry mem. 

Comp/Typ/Book time is where we switch activities. One does computer time - generally this is a learning type game, but I've had trouble finding those for my age kids. They've been really into Minecraft lately, and I may allow them to play that as it has quite a bit of thinking/constructing involved. We still need to be more diligent about learning typing fluently so hopefully that will occur this year. And, the other does book reading that is assigned.

The kiddos asked for history/science to be in the afternoons as those are their favorite subjects. We're continuing on with Apologia, this year on Human Body. We're also going to second year of Mystery of History - it's still not my favorite, but I can't seem to find anything that fits better for us. Much of the assigned reading will be history based. 

Spanish/Speech - I think I'm going to try Mango which is a Spanish program the library makes available. We'll see if that is a good fit. Josh has been having speech lessons over the summer so we need to continue working on that. 

As seems to always be the case with our schooling, each day is subject to, and will likely, change. Thankfully that is one of the many beauties of homeschooling. I also want to put in there somewhere Eat Your Way Around the World - it seemed like a fun book to work through at our leisure. 

Let me know if you have any questions or any suggestions... :)

Josh organized his (and a couple of James') Nerf guns the other day - 

he still is always talking about buying more of them :)

 

 

Last Day of Home School

I happened across this cartoon on a blog and thought it was pretty funny so wanted to share it...

Homeschool Happenings

Whew, it's been almost three months since I've posted something about homeschool! That's probably because we're kind of in the in-between time, not quite looking to next year and pretty well set on the current year. However, this week has been a bit challenging in the homeschool arena - I don't know if it is because we're just coming off spring break, but there has been lots of grouchies and pesteries going on this week. Thankfully, I know God is in control both in giving me these certain kids and by having us homeschool at this point. So, I needed to be more diligent in going to Him for help, and, as always, He provides.

So, a couple of things...one, testing time is almost upon us. I thought I'd put the main links I look at for help to know what will be on the tests. I wouldn't say I teach to the test, but I do make sure that my kids actually know what they are expected to know, and thus see on the test. 

Test questions/examples - we will actually do pretty much all examples, and even do additional like examples

Test and item specs - this helps to know exactly how many of each specific items will be on the test

Performance level descriptors - this is another means I use of making sure we are covering all the areas

Two, here are a couple of random websites that might be of interest to you:

Literature Genres - we've finished our reading program for the year, and I plan to move to focusing (and perhaps writing) on specific genres

Souptoys - I don't know if I've already put this down, but it is a fun, free, imaginative "game"

Fantastic Contraption - a physics puzzle game

Lightbot - basic, early programming type game

Here's the website I found the previous two games from and it has many other recommendations for starting kids on programming (I think we are pretty likely going to get Josh (group gift) Lego Mindstorms for his bday)

30 Truths about Homeschooling - just a good reminder

And, lastly, we spent most of the day reorganizing our classroom. I think part of the reason math has been a struggle is because the kids sit on the couch for most of it and that creates lots more opportunity for fooling around, being distracted, etc. So, now the desks have been placed to face the board rather than having the couch face the board. We'll see how it goes...

 

 

Owl Pellets

We did a most fascinating activity this afternoon...dissecting owl pellets. Since we just studied rodents in Apologia's Land Mammals, they recommended this as a project. Basically Owls swallow their prey whole and since bones have little nutritional value, they "gag" them back out surrounded by fur/feathers and other non-useful parts. It does sound totally gross and the idea received general negativity around here (except Josh and I), but everyone really enjoyed the dissection. Hannah even said multiple times that it was much better than she thought. We purchased our pellets from Owl Brand Online...I ordered two different barn owl pellets (one West and one Central, the largest size), and two Horned Owl Pellets as they seemed to vary quite a bit more (one large and one small one came). They also had a free informational guide to help. 

as you can see...they begin as a lump and are easy to pull apart

the size of the bones in this pellet (horned owl) were huge compared to the others

James was by far the most methodical

Josh's (upper left) was also from a horned owl (much smaller pellet)and it had lots of broken bones

the girls found six skulls in their pellet