Lizards

more mice

chameleon outside the show

Been a While....

Life....just life...thats why I am way behind on posting....no excuses here..just plain old life...and its a good life...heres a bunch of pictures...making it short so I can get them all on today:)

Repticon....Worlds Largest Reptile Show

Yes, I would like to hold a python..thanks

I am sure my mom loves this, LOL
Mice for sale...in case you need to feed your python

Okay, this is so gross!

Owen and his best friend Matthew The Older Craft-grades 4-7. We made ponchos for girls and matching ones for dolls.

Biology Class. Students Making Knox gelatin cells

Monarh Chrysalis ready to emerge as a butterfly

Incline plane experiment for Owen

Art Class for Owen, using anything BUT a paintbrush!

Sink and Float in Science Class

Just some pictures from this week.....

Boys Making Homemade Animal Cells

Owen's Math Spider

Various Species Around The House...Kiko would like the tadpoles for dinner:)

Monarch Butterfly

These are our monarch caterpillars. They started as microscopic eggs...and look at them now!

Owen's Week: He learned about the great squid, brought his praying mantis egg sack to his first show & tell, enjoyed watching his painted lady chrysallis emerge into a butterfly, and studied and African Savannah ( made a prairie dog and lion). He does so many hands on projects everyday, I couldnt possibly list them all here..but these were his favorites!

MHEA Art Contest!

Julia received third place for "The Reading Room" and Owen won second place for "Yummy Cookies". Owen's painting will now go onto the next level. This is his very first award! We are so proud of both of them.

Biology Class: Using Correct Latin terminology

BIOLOGY CLASS

I am teaching a Biology class to two additional students besides my own.

Its a totally hands on class using my very favorite Real Science 4 Kids....( the books I sell at conventions). Today we had a scavenger hunt searching for specific species within our home using the correct Latin Terminology. Scientists around the world refer to animals and plants using their Latin name. Latin is a universal language in the scientific world. The name of each animal is spoken as its genus followed by species. This was great fun and they really caught onto the concept of classification.

Its scary that we actually had nine species of animals in our house and yard, LOL...all pets! The kids are holding their "Clue Cards" over the correct species:)

First Week Of School

Owen's Marshmallow Math ( his very favorite)!

Animal pattern block math

Owen with his animals made by vegetable stamping ( we used a real potato and carrot)

Native American Crafts by Julia:

Tepee and Possibles Bag ( early American hunters used these)

School Year Has Started!

Well, we started school last week. I just finally getting around to posting:) We are using a literature based program from Winter Promise called All American II. Here is a link to read all about this fabulous hands on history program. I love this curriculum as you can teach different grade levels together. The independent work is grade specific. The kids LOVE this year as US history is their favorite!
http://www.winterpromise.com/all_american_2.html

The boys will be using a combination of Calvert School spelling and grammar mixed with Wordsmith ( a middle school writing program). They also have a wonderful series of historical fiction integrated throughout their language arts program. Frank will be using Thinkwell Algebra and Jack will be using Saxon 7/6 with the new online Saxon Teacher.

Julia will be continuing Writing Tales, a classical approach to writing combined with Calvert spelling and grammar. Math will be Saxon 5/4 with the new online Saxon Teacher.

All three will enjoy ( okay, maybe enjoy might be a stretch, LOL) The Great Editing Adventure.

Here are some links if you want to actually see the curriculum:

http://homeschool.calvertschool.org/why-calvert/homeschool-curriculum

http://www.commonsensepress.com/wordsmith/wsapp.htm

http://commonsensepress.com/wordsmith/wordsmith.htm

http://www.writing-tales.com/

http://saxonhomeschool.hmhco.com/en/saxonteacher_demo.htm

http://www.thinkwell.com/homeschool/product/intermediatealgebra


Owen will be completing Winter Promise Animals and My Worlds combined with Sonlight Language Arts Kindergarten. He also will be completing some American History K hands on activities. Math will be Hands On Saxon. We were planning on sending him to a 5 year old transitional K program, but honestly, the price was astronomical for something I can certainly do myself. Social events are quite abundant for his age ( story time, K-1 homeschool group, play dates, and more) so I think we have made the right decision. I would have honestly liked a little break three days a week, but I also enjoy having him here and teaching him to read. Its so very exciting and rewarding!

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

http://www.sonlight.com/la-k.html

I will post pictures of our first week in just a bit.

End of Year Thoughts....

Well, as you can see, its been three weeks since I have posted anything. The month of May is always so busy...its hard to find time:) I guess I will use the summer to catch up and post pictures of this past year and our adventures during the summer. Well, we have decided as a family to homeschool next year as well. I am in the midst of ordering curriculum and I will post what we have settled on shortly. Choosing curriculum is so incredibly hard as there is SO MUCH available:) Wonderful programs!!! I cant wait to start....:)

As this year comes to and end and I reflect all that has happened, I can honestly say I cant imagine ever going back to public school. Dont get me wrong, we LOVED our school and LOVED most of our teachers...but there is something so incredibly special about seeing your children learn in the modality that suits them best. Each of our children has a certain way they learn best. Jack is extremely visual, Frank is completely tactile, and Julia is our auditory learner...Owen follows Jack and is visual as well....I have adapted each of our subjects to suit their individual learning style...which in my opinion is a HUGE benefit of homeschooling. I cannot tell you the difference in their attitudes towards learning since I figured out each of their learning styles. It makes a world of difference in both attitude and aptitude. They actually ENJOY spelling and ENJOY writing....they LOVE history and LOVE hands on Chem...and LOVE math....it is just so exciting!!!

If I ever do go back and teach in a classroom setting, I know this experience will help immensely. I cant imagine having a class of 30 and having to figure out each learning style...it took me several months just to pin down my own four kiddos...I give teachers ALOT of credit. Its an incredibly difficult profession!

Pre-K Science Week

Well, Owen got these cool dinos that started at just two inches tall...now they are over 12", just by soaking them in water. He actually remember the term Polymer from our snowmaking earlier in year! I was so proud of him..He graphed their growth each day on a chart. He learned science and math in a real world setting.

The kids were studying mixtures this week. We had fun experimenting with heterogenous and homogenous mixtures.

Baby Turns FIVE!

No more babies in this house....Big Boy Owen turned five today...and we celebrated at Chuck E. Cheese....Pizza and sugar, sugar, sugar...he had a hard time falling asleep tonight...Jack and I made the cake with WWI on it, LOL......

Owen is very into WWI right now..not sure why...but we had fun making the cake! His favorite gifts: cap gun, money from Grandma Lorraine and the Grow Your Own Dino from Grandma & Grandpa

Physics & Bio

The boys are completing Physics Quest 2009 and one of their experiments was to determine if adding Splenda to water changes the index of refraction. Basically, they added dry water gel crystals to water where they quickly absorb hundreds of times their weight in water. The crystals are invisible in water but if Splenda is added, or if they are exposed to oxygen...they begin to appear. They learned about the index of refraction and how to use this property to determine how many Splenda packets I secretly added to each cup of water.

This is a "lung" Owen and Julia made in Biology class. There is clear celo across the bottom representing the diaphragm ( the muscle that makes the lung work). When you pull and push on the yellow handle, the "lung" inflates and deflates just like inhalation and exhalation.

Deflated

Inflated

This is "Heart Guy"...poor guy is having his "blood" manually pumped by a four year old...from one part of his heart ( orange balloon) through the body ( see the little red guy in the middle?) to the other part of the heart ( pink balloon).

This is really teaching the basics of how our heart pumps blood throughout the body and then the blood returns to the heart.

This was a big hit! Julia assembled it herself and Owen loved playing with it when she was done.