If it's not fun, you're not doing it right

This is on my refrigerator right now.

And I think about how true it really is in all of life.  Isn't it?

I certainly have not been "Super Duper Homeschool Mom" these days. Especially by not using a consistent writing curriculum but, hey, that's the way I roll.  I have been convinced lately though that my girls need some practice by way of descriptive writing.  So....while I was (in the 11th hour) fervently leafing through a book of writing prompts trying to figure out what in the heck we were going to do for a writing assignment today, it hit me when I read this.

Well, "Booooorrrrrrrring" is actually what I first thought and what I was pretty sure my girls would think as well.  It seemed more like busy-work to me and I'm pretty sure it would to them, as well.  And I would surely have gotten some huffs, puffs, heads flailing on the desks, and subsequent hum-drum descriptions just to finish the laborious task.

So, I told them both to

1. Brainstorm, make a list and/or write out a description of a halloween costume 
2. Once she was finished with the written description her sister had to draw it based on her description.   

It was "game on" then.



In retrospect I would first have had them draw a costume, then use that picture to help her describe it in words, keep the original drawing hidden, then hand the written description, only, to her sister.  I think this would have been better for several reasons (#1) it would have been something more concrete for them to describe and (b) they would have had 2 finished drawings to compare.  Next time.  And, oh there will be a next time because I can run something into the ground until it ISN'T fun any longer. 

As you can see I was scribe for little bit (on the white board).

It was funny to watch their expressions and talk to them about what their sister had drawn.  Both of them genuinely liked the others' drawing but they did admit it wasn't quite what they had pictured in their mind.  I briefly talked with them about how they could have added details and what words they could have used to better describe their costume and explained how important it is to be as descriptive as possible when writing because we draw pictures in our minds of what we read.  Blah, blah, blah...enough talking, Mom.

So there you have it, an otherwise lackluster writing experience they actually had fun with.  You could use this for all kinds of descriptive writing exercises.  Let me know if you think of more ideas!

Sorry that I have been kind of MIA lately.  I was waffling about whether or not to hang up this blogging thing.  But I think I am going to keep at it.  I learn and glean so much online (and mostly off of other people's blogs) that I simply want to pay it forward.  So, hope to see you soon!

And...Happy Fall, Y'all!

I "heart" Television..hear me out

I am not a perfect homeschooling Mom by AAAANNNYYYY stretch of the imagination.  Let's just say I have my moments and leave it at that.  One of my coping mechanisms at times is the age old baby-sitter, dear old tv.

Last fall, I went with a good friend to hear Steve and Teri Maxwell speak.  It was a nice talk and Steve spoke at the very end.  He described a box in our homes that sucked the life out of all of us.  He was very convicted about this and while my friend pointed out they are the "real deal" as in they practice what they preach and the fruits of their labors are evident, I still can't give up my tv.  (Not to mention the next day I had one of THE worst days in my homeschooling life because I felt like I just didn't measure up to the Maxwell's standards.)  But I'm getting off point, here.

I am brought back to my mother's words to me as a child when I would (I'm sure) incessantly inquire whether any one particular thing was "good for you" or not.  After being asked that question probably a couple of hundred times her reply has been a keeper.  She said, "Ginger, too much of anything is bad for you."

While we try not to keep a lot of news and trivial television on in our house (especially when the girls are around) and we are VERY aware of the influence commercials have.  However we still USE our tv.  We use tv, Nintendo DS's, Wii, and the internet.  But my girls also read books, knit, play board games, play outside, do arts and crafts galore, dance and so on.

This all leads me to the reason I am posting.  I shared on a homeschooling forum a list of television programming that we DVR.  My girls take some of these programs in phases but here is a list of our television repertoire (in no particular order):

• The Electric Company (PBS)
• Adventures from the Book of Virtue (BYU)
• Peep (Discovery Kids)
• Nest Family Animated Stories (TBN and BYU)
• Animated Hero Classics (BYU)
• Fetch (PBS)
• Animated Stories of the New Testament (EWTN)
• Animal Atlas (local Fox Affiliate)
• Jack Hannah's Into the Wild (local Fox Affiliate)
• Magic School Bus (Discovery Kids)
• Children's Heroes of the Bible (HOPE)
• Looney Tunes/Tom and Jerry (Boomerang) - Did I just type that?!?
• Also ABC Family channel will often have a lot of good movies, etc...

I was watching O'Reilly on Fox news the other night (after my kids were in bed) and he had a guy on from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (....have you ever?!?) that wants to SUE McDonald's over Happy Meal toys.  They claim the toys attract kids and make them fat.  My kids have amazingly NEVER really begged to go to McDonald's and they certainly don't care about the 2-bit toys.  As a matter of fact, we don't even eat at McDonald's because their workers are usually not the squeakiest of clean and I saw this video about an alleged 4 year old petrified Mickey Dees cheeseburger.  Therefore we eat at Chick-fil-A 9 times out of 10 for obvious reasons and guess what?  My girls usually TRADE IN their "toy" for an ice-cream.  Gasp!  (That is when I let them buy the kids meal and don't make them buy a sandwich and split it.)  But far be it from me to tell someone else they can't take their children to McDonald's or anywhere else for that matter.  I'm just sayin'...I think because I have limited my girls' television repertoire we don't have these marketing issues and hence the tv is used as an educational tool in our home.  Boy...I am getting waaaaay off subject here....as in stepping from one proverbial soapbox to another...

I recall my husband's deceased grandmother telling how thankful she was when she got her first television.  As a single mother of 2 children in the 40's and 50's she was thankful to have it to keep them busy when she was working.  Isn't that an ironic point of view, especially today?  I think about how hard she worked just to support her family.  She was an independent woman for sure.  A true conservative through to the bone, relying on her own hard work - not others - for just about everything she had.  I am constantly reminded and thankful to the sacrifices that both my husband's family and my family have made so that now our family can be where we are today, particularly being afforded the opportunity to homeschool and hopefully counteract some of modern society's ills.  Maybe one day I will be telling my children's children how thankful I was to have a DVR.

I guess I just feel like maybe we need to lighten up and remember that too much of anything (including moderation or the lack thereof) is bad for you!  I hope this list of television shows will help bless your family.

The Homeschool Channel

I love AFA.  I listen to AFR ALL of the time on the radio in my car, now.  They now have launched a new internet site, The Homeschool Channel, and eventually you will be able to plug into your tv.  Can you say bye-bye cable, tv.

We are pretty discerning about to what and whom we give donations.  We believe in and as a result give to AFA.

Peregrina's Poem

I just happened to visit Peregrina.  I don't read her blog regularly but every time I go there I find myself lingering, soaking up her words of wisdom.  It looks to me like she has stopped posting for a while.  I'm not quite sure what that is about.  I sure wish she'd publish a book because I'd snap that up in a second.  Anyway, this little poem just struck me tonight.  I think we'll use this one for our next dictation exercise and even memorize.

Let me be a little kinder,
Let me be a little blinder
To the faults of those about me;
Let me praise a little more;
Let me be, when I am weary,
Just a little bit more cheery;
Let me serve a little better
Those that I am striving for.

Let me be a little braver
When temptation bids me waver;
Let me strive a little harder
To be all that I should be;
Let me be a little meeker
With the brother that is weaker;
Let me think more of my neighbor
And a little less of me.

~ Author Unknown

Ellen McHenry - You're my Hero

Actually I think I have 2 heros this morning and no zero is not one of them.  Do you think I have been spending a little too much time around kids since the lyrics to Multiplication Rock have worked their way into a blog post?

The first hero is Sheri over at What's in the Box.  She is a workboxing maniac!  Man, she makes me tired just reading her posts.  But she really does have some great ideas.  I was reading some of her older posts and she mentioned a brain hat.  Well, I have recently fallen in love with a new writing program, Stack the Deck (I'm beginning to feel like one very underpaid - as in no pay - infomercial for all of these links).  Herb Hrebic talks about our brain saying he believes the brain is the best computer of all and he even puts a brain hat on to illustrate.  What kid wouldn't feel smarter and motivated to answer questions by just putting on a brain hat?  Maybe it is just me but I think it is nothing short of genius.  That's using your noggin (no pun intended...ok there was a very bad pun and it was intended).  Go to about the 4 minute mark of Mr. Hrebic's video if you don't want to watch it all (although I highly recommend watching it all) to see him talking about it. I have been rolling around in my brain, "where could I find a brain hat?" - and if you know anything about me at all, you know "I don't want to pay a lot for this muffler".  Aaaaannnnyyyyywaaaay... this all is going somewhere, trust me, and it leads to another one of of my new heros which is is Ellen McHenry (btw, Mr. Hrebic also needs mention on that "hero list").  Ellen's site is filled with free downloads and she also has curriculum for sale.  We are using Adventures in My Father's World this year and we have just briefly covered atoms and molecules, etc.   Even as an engineer, I always despised chemistry - as in hated, loathed, detested the subject.  When Ms. Priss was born I made up songs for her to learn to spell her name and put as many things to tunes as possible.  I have ALWAYS joked that we were going to have to sing and dance the periodic table of elements to help her and Lil' Bit learn them.  Guess what?  Ellen McHenry has already done that for me complete with a fairy tale about the periodic table.  Just go peruse her site.  You won't be disappointed.

Tata for now!

Have I mentioned I love math?

One of the members of our local homeschool group recently gave a presentation on learning styles at one of our Mom's meetings.  I was so interested in what she had to say I sought to find an online test for assessing children's learning styles.  Turns out both of my girls are visual learners just like their dear old Mom.  One is actually equally visual and kinesthetic which apparently a lot of younger children lean more heavily towards the kinesthetic (or hands on).  Which is something I think a lot of homeschoolers should know.  If I could stand up and shout out to all homeschoolers across America, I would shout this:  DO NOT MAKE YOUR CHILDREN SIT ALL DAY AND DO WRITTEN SEAT WORK!!!!!!

Anyway, I also did another online test by Scholastic and guess what?  Turns out my girls are also Analytical Learners. 

As an analytic learner, your child thinks logically and numerically, and tends to discern patterns easily. An analytic learner does well in math or science, and often gravitates to board games. She uses a methodical approach to problem-solving and prefers black-and-white solutions to more amorphous ones....

Well imagine that.  I love my sweet little analytical learners to pieces...every sorted (not sordid) and organized little piece of them.

So, I guess it goes without saying that we tend to really like Math.  I love Saxon but left just as they present, well, sometimes leaves a little to be desired.  So, I like to throw in some fun every now and then.  Recently we covered the (idiotic, imho) English system of volume measurement (gallons, quarts, pints, cups).

 Why, oh why can't the U.S. just convert to metric?  I digress...  If we MUST use the disgusting system it must be learned visually with a little kinesthetics thrown in.  Hence Gallon Man to the rescue....

First of all I showed them a real skeleton so that they would understand our bone structure.  I then showed them the picture of Mr. Gallon Man.

Then we made our own.  For each gallon man you will need 4 pieces of construction paper in colors of your childs choice.  (Hey I am listening to Love & Logic and I'm all about letting THEM have as much control as possible, these days.)  We used a whole sheet of construction paper for the Gallon.  Cut one whole piece into 4 strips for the Quarts.  Cut another piece into the same 4 strips then cut them in half the long way for 8 pints.  Cut another piece as for the pints except one making one more cup making 16 cups.  Have them label each and voila.

Notice Lil' Bit called hers Mrs. Gallon.  Not that there's anything wrong with that!  I hung them on my math wall.  This is my happy place.  I know.  I'm weird like that.  I embrace it.

What can I say?  We're visual, people!!!

Creationism

I recently received an email notifying me of a MSNBC (or MSLSD as Mark Levin refers to them) poll.  The title of the email read, "Should Homeschoolers be Allowed to be Taught Truth: Vote!".  I find the word "truth" here to be ironic.
 
Homeschoolers (in our state and many other states) are free to use any curriculum they choose - and that even includes "unschooling".  Which, in my humble opinion, is as it should be.  Our society has slowly and scarily drifted from "parent knows best" to "big brother knows best".  It is funny that this poll refers to "homeschool textbooks", too.  I am of the belief that "textbooks" are a big part of our societal ills, anyway.  I am a huge fan of Charlotte Mason.  She was a turn of the century teacher and advocate of early homeschoolers in England when, politically, much the same thing was happening there as is now in the US.  Her philosophy was that the mind is a living entity that needs to be fed, not a container to be filled.  She advocated the use of "living books" - books that inspire the reader, feed the mind, and spark the imagination. Rather than a textbook feeding "information" that came from some arbitrary source, the information in these books is presented by the character (or the author) as a person that is personally attached to the information.  Information presented in this manner, she contends, will leave one wanting more information, being personally connected to it.  Therefore, we tend to use many living books - not textbooks - in our homeschool and the Bible is the mack Daddy of living books.  

Now as for Creationism vs. Evolution....I don't apologize for being a young earth believer.  I believe that the Bible was written as a historical narrative.  A science text?  No.  An accurate historical account?  Yes - that is corroborated by many other secular historical records.  I believe when we start doubting the validity or accurateness of the Bible we get into some murky water.  Some people may call me a dumb Christian.  I look at it as, "Why should I reinvent the wheel?".  We have learned and studied a lot (not so much recently though, for whatever reason) on Creationism vs. Evolution.  There is a series of children's adventure audios, Jonathon Park, that my girls literally eat up.  Another book I would urge you to read is Ruth Beechick's, Genesis:  Finding Our Roots.  This book answered MANY questions I had and she has such a depth of knowledge and research on this subject matter.  For instance, in the book she talks about dinosaurs.  Genesis mentions the word "dragon" which many believe was synonymous to dinosaur.   However many people have never seen this reference, because they read the English translation and the word "dragon" is only in the Hebrew text.   When the Bible was translated into English (by King James) the word dragon was translated to "large beast".  Well, the largest beast the English knew of at the time was a whale.  Hence "And God created great whales, and every living creature that moves which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind; and God saw that it was good." (Gen. 1:21).  And there are many more references to dragons throughout the OT.  Anyway, it is things like that throughout that book that convinced me and my simple little mind that I don't need to go there.  I think evolutionists have cleverly crafted and packaged their little "bit".  I am saddened that there are so many people out there that have turned their backs to the Biblical truths, though.  The thing that frightens me though is that this is a societal change (as evidenced by the poll results when I voted were about 2/3 voting "No").  I can try to teach my children truth but the fact is they ARE going to be influenced some by societal thinking.

What are your thoughts on this matter?

100th Day Revisited - 2010 Edition

Well, it is that time of year again.  Here's a quick run down of our Hundred day activities.  I have a wonderful neighbor whose daughter is in the girls' dance class that used to teach 1st grade.  She so graciously let me borrow her "box" of 100 day magic.  Thanks Michelle!

We started the morning with our calendar activities.

Last day of the US puzzle and the unifix hundred line.

 

First thing, we read the 100th Psalm

Then, we read some cute books that I had checked out of the library. 

Centipede's 100 Shoes by Tony Ross and  Emily's first 100 Days of School by Rosemary Wells

Then it was on to our first set of activities.  What can you do in 100 seconds?

How many bunnies can you color?

 

How many sets of 10 hearts can you circle?

How tall of a tower can you build?

How many hearts can you cut from squares of paper?

Now here's where the Industrial Engineer in me just couldn't let this one rest.  I asked them if they thought they could do it faster and how.  Ms. Priss immediately suggested that one of them do the folding and the other do the cutting (Mommy was beaming).

Look how many more there were!!!  17 to be exact (as opposed to their combined total of 11 from before our little job analysis).  I even helped them figure out their time per heart.  Hey, Ms. Priss utilized her new divistion skills here.

How many jelly beans can you eat in 100 seconds?  (the caveat was they had to completely chew and swallow one before eating another.

How many staples can you staple in 100 seconds?


100 pieces of snack mix.

 

Then we were on to some fun stuff.  We determined weight and volume of 100 things...  I intended to have them graph these but by this time we were kind of running out of steam.

First the counting....

100 Nerds, teddy grahams, pompoms, marshmallows, m&m's (peanut AND plain)

100 droplets of water and 100 tablespoons of water

Next the measuring and weighing (which I guess you could still technically classify as measuring)...

Weighing 100 tablespoons of water...

The total volume of 100 tablespoons...

Weighing the pompoms...

the marshmallows, nerds, teddy grahams, and m&m's...

now to determine the volumes

 

 

Notice we changed measuring vessels for more accurate results and/or for verification purposes.  All VERY official stuff here. 

In case you're interested in our results...

Item (100 of…)	Weight (grams)	Volume	unit of measure
Peanut m&m's	283	2.75	c
Regular m&m's	95	0.5	c
Marshmallows	65	1.25	c
Teddy Grahams	67	1	c
Pom Poms	25	3	c
Nerds	20	1	Tbsp
Drops of Water	3	1	tsp
teaspoons of Water	567	2.5	c

Then it was outside for a little vitamin D for our mad scientists.  They ran approximately 100 yds to the corner (and back)...I believe 3 times.  Mommy didn't.  She was on the porch with the camera.

And last but not least, our hundred glasses (from last year) but this time with a twist... with 100 googly eyes.

Hope you enjoyed our 100 day.  It was 100 total immersion for us.

Call to Dunkirk

Recently I have had several Christians ask me and in their questioning seem somewhat skeptical about our decision and practice of homeschooling.  One even told me flat out that SHE WAS AGAINST IT.  I really have not experienced this much until now and am a little bit taken aback by this Christian response.  This little video sums it up, pretty much...





...Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.  -1 Peter 3:15

Cotton Pickin' Dinner Plans

This week we have been studying Eli Whitney and the Cotton Gin.  My parents had recently gotten the girls some cotton and I have saved it several months in anticipation.  The teachers manual suggested using cotton balls and gluing green bits of paper then rolling the cotton so that the green paper is inside.  Then have them pick those out but fortunately we had the real thing.  Well, the teachers manual also says that this is tiring and the children will probably not want to do this for very long.  Well, not my children.  They were begging after school to do the REST of the branch we had.  Far be it from me to keep them from it.  (Perler beads comes to mind here - they'll stay busy with those things for HOURS).

I never realized how many things cotton seeds are used for, either.  They were bigger than I expected too.  Now, Ms. Priss wants me to find something so that she can card the cotton.  She mentioned something about spinning it on a wheel.  I guess she's got big plans for her Daddy to make her one.  Hmmm...somehow I don't see that happening any time in the near future.

On an unrelated note, I have been trying hard to get myself organized.  I have fallen in love with Sandra Felton these days.  If you don't get Free Daily Coaching from the Organizer Lady you are missin' the boat!!!   I will try to post more about my schedules, etc. later but I wanted to share with you one of my organizational tools.  Laurie at Tip Junkie has asked us to post organizing ideas. 

So, I thought I would share with you my meal planning system.  When used it is a beautiful thing.  But apparently that is paramount with any organizing scheme...that is, the follow through.

I use a sheet protector that photographer's use for slides.  The nice thing about these page protectors is that they are configured in a 5 x 4 grid so that you can plan for 5 days a week and up to 4 weeks at a time.  I cut card stock in 2" squares.  On the front of the card I write the main dish or title.  On the back side I have listed ingredients, side dishes or "suggested servings".  So, when you flip it over it can be used as a handy little checklist/shopping list for the week and/or month.  Notice I also put notes on the fronts of my cards such as Kids eat Free on Tuesdays at Atlanta Bread and Footlongs are $4 on Fridays at Harris Teeter.

I don't plan for the weekends assuming that there will (a) be some slippage during the week and (#2) that we will eat leftovers and (III) that my dear husband will suggest that his darling wife has had such a laborious week that he should treat her to lovely meals out.

 
I usually hang it on the side of my refrigerator out of view just to reference.  But the nice thing about it is that you could put it in a 3 ring binder or just slip it in your pocket book if need be.  I haven't quite perfected storage of the extra cards but for now the little ziploc will have to do.   Now, I've gotta go figure out what's for dinner tonight!