My so called POND

Well. two months ago I got this great idea to build a pond, you know for decoration and enjoyment. I was planning on sitting with my iced tea watching the cascading falls......then one day as I went to put some bleach in it to sanitize the water, a large toad jumped up....so I thought to myself, if I bleach this pond, he will die.........hmmmmm.......well, so much for watching my beautiful cascading falls.....it is now a FROG POND......as in several toads, more toads, and even more toads.....the kids love it....I am not so sure....will keep you posted.....We are studying frogs, later in the year, so this will come in very handy. We are having pea gravel delivered to spruce it up...maybe that will scare away the frogs. CAN YOU SEE THE LARGE FROG, TOP CENTER ON THE MIDDLE ROCK? Hes the one that you can pick up and hold ( if you so desire).....

WEEK THREE

Well, the locust bisquits we made were a hit. Do you know in ancient times they fried locust ( yes, the bugs) in oil and ATE them for dinner. We made some and quite frankly, they were good. We studied Noah's Ark this week and watched some cool documentaries....the kids would like to go to Mt. Ararat...explained that unless God intervened with some cash, we wouldnt be going anytime soon, LOL....I forgot to take photos of these little boogers. I made one in the shape of King Tut, just to see if anybody could guess what it was.....okay, nobody guessed....I think I need a job, LOL.....

WEEK TWO

Wish I had time to really write this all down....I dont even have time to take a shower....LOL...not complaining, just explaining why our blog is so messy and never up to date. Anyway, week two was exciting with science class at Pink Palace, family bowling, ballet has begun, confirmation class for F, a sleepover at our house....just what we need, more wild boys...LOL....the kids are doing great...We changed some of our language arts curriculum...the joy of homeschooling is you REALLY get to know your kids....their strengths and weaknesses and you can change or adjust as needed. One of their favorite activities this week was making a "travel bed" like they had in 3000BC. A donkey could hold hundreds of these at one time....nice to know if we ever have to travel across the desert....hey, we can send one with dad next time he goes back! LOL

WEEK ONE More Experiments

Well, week one was exciting, so exciting, I didnt have time to post a darn thing, except some pictures. We are studying ancient history and the kids made ancient tools that they carved by hand, a ziggurat made with cornmeal (very ancient temple), brown paint and boxes, millet seed planted to determine the best soil for growth in Mesopotmia ( now Iraq/Syria) and also some clay people to represent early man. The boys are busy with their 6th grade curriculum while J keeps herself busy with third grade stuff. O is just busy.....no explanation needed. I think this is going to be soooo fun!!! We had pe at the Y and art...followed by Raquetball team for both boys...( and I thought football was dangerous, LOL)...wish they would wear helmets for racquetball!)

MY THEME SONG! You Must Watch This! CLICK TO SEE IT!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6P2w5GkXmU&NR=1

Week One!

Getting close to our first day of "h" school

Okay, so we have decided to homeschool our children....those of you that know me will gasp with disbelief ( and many of you have already) at the thought of pulling our children out of public school to start this homeschool journey.


The goal of education ( in my opinion) is to promote lifelong learners....kids who want to learn not just to make an "A" and then forget the material 6 months later....but kids who will remember what they learn and use it forever. Kids who will be HAPPY!!!!!!!


As I think about a witty reponse to end the odd silence that occurs when first telling someone of our decision, I am quickly reminded that I dont have to explain anything to anyone. My true friends and family will know this is a decision we did not take lightly. I guess our answer would be that homeschooling is not for everyone but it is most definitely for us! Its a committment like no other....... and one that will change young lives forever. If you are up for the challenge it can be the most amazing, fun, and rewarding experience of your life! Its a whole new way of life for our family.

So now for the fun stuff....after 3 months of researching curriculum, we finally settled on Winter Promise, a literature based curriculum based on The Charlotte Mason approach. I was trained extensively in graduate school using this method and my hope is to eventually open a small school using her methods. ( I figure I will try it out on my own kids first, LOL)

Here is a link to read about Charlotte Mason and her methods:

http://www.winterpromise.com/charlotte_mason.html


If you want to see the history/literature curriculum we are using, please click here:http://www.winterpromise.com/ancient_world.html

(Its a very long page so please read all the way to the bottom. Check out all the hands on stuff we will be doing. I will post pictures as we go along each week.)

F and JD will be completing the Jr. Quest for The Ancient World.

Ju will be completing the younger Quest for The Ancient World

Little "O" ( not using real names as this is a public domain) will complete: I'm Ready To Learn
http://www.winterpromise.com/ready_to_learn.html

Now for Language Arts and Math:
Ju: Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind, level 3
All About Spelling..hands on spelling
Writing Strands, Level 2
Historical Fiction, narrations

Boys:
Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind, level 4
Sequential Spelling 3 & 4
Writing Tales, classical writing program..very fun for BOYS
Historical Fiction analysis, coordinating with their WP History




Math:
FP: Teaching Textbooks, grade 7 ( pricey, state of the art, but well worth the money and they get to use the computer, so they are hooked)
JD: Teaching Textbooks, grade 6
JU: Saxon, grade 3
O: Included in his Ready To Learn Program, and of course weighing every piece of fruit in theproduce aisle at Kroger

Science: ( all the kids, but they each have different levels of work to complete, based on their grade)
Biology and tons of labs

Now for the EXTRAS ( to make sure they are social, LOL)

Pink Palace Museum, science and astronomyand lab classes taught by a real scientist, how cool is that??? They are registered for the whole year.

Art Classes weekly with Mrs. Baldwin

Extra art class for Ju at The Brooks Art Museum ( once a month)

P.E. Class weekly at the Y

Chess Club ( FP)

Ballet ( Ju)

Assorted Plays at the Harrell Theater ( JD, JU)...they audition soon, will let you know

Raquetball team ( JD)

Computer Classes in Sept, Nov ( FP and JD), (learning computer programming and robotics)

Brownies ( Ju)

Library Hour ( 2 times week) O

FP: Confirmation classes on Sunday...he will be confirmed in May 09

JD and JU: Quest Sunday School

Fun Stuff:
Our local homeschool group has social events ( and lots of them) for each age group. There is a scavenger hunt pool party, book club reports, and crafts ( I am running the crafts) for the older kids. Our first craft is "homeschool rocks". I will post a picture shortly.


Thinking about.....

Basketball
Promiseland ( like Sunday school at our church on Wed nights)

so you can see we wont be busy at all.......LOL....more later....I have to get ready for tomorrow, its our first day of school!