Question....

Okay, first let me say this. We do not homeschool for religious reasons. That actually had nothing to do with why we homeschool. I originally thought about homeschool because I worried about negative influences, bullying, drugs, violence and because I wasn't ready to let go, but I did.

When we finally started homeschooling 6 or 7 years later, it was because something terrible happened to my son at school. We don't know what, he still won't talk to us about it, but it was bad enough that when you mention him going to that school for just a few hours for a test, he has a panic attack. So we pulled him out and now DD has joined us and it's wonderful.

Don't get me wrong, our religion and beliefs are often brought up in our homeschooling but that was not the "purpose". I love that as we read ancient history, the kids will say, "Hey! That's in the Bible!" or "Hey! We have a story like that in our Bible!" when we are talking about other people's legends or myths. They probably would have noticed this in public school too but wouldn't have had a Bible handy to go and find it and reread it there too. I think that is very neat. And of course our values are always being covered one way or another but they were before we started homeschooling.

So it does influence our homeschooling a lot but that's not "WHY" we started and it's "WHY" we continue either. It's an added bonus.

That being said, has anyone tried the Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach? I'm very curious about it. I wish I could check out the book from the library but they don't have it. Anyone want to loan me theirs??? ;o)

My only thing is that I want the kids to get to see all sides of things and issues. Yes, I will show them evolution and they already know what the Bible says too. I want them to be exposed to it and other things too so that they can be educated enough to make their own conclusions based on the Bible, science, history, and all of it.

So that being said, I can't decide if the Heart of Wisdom is for me. But it seems very interesting and seems to be a wonderful way to teach. So... has anyone tried it? Is anyone using it? What can you tell me about it? What do you think?

Butter

Well, we made butter the other day for our Pioneer unit. It was lots of fun and the kids loved it! I have to tell you about it though.

We took some heavy cream and put it in a jar. Then we shook it and shook it and shook it some more. They had so much fun. DD came to me after a while and said that it wasn't making any noise any more. So we opened it and it was nice and thick and had an interesting texture. There was only one thing wrong, where was the buttermilk? We really didn't care because we had some nice whipped butter that tasted wonderful! We used it on our toast, pancakes, potatoes and so on and it was Divine!!

Today, we sadly ran out so the kids asked to make more. We did. But this time we must of shook harder or longer or something because we had butter milk and the texture of the butter was more like butter.

Very sad. We liked it the other way AND it made more the other way. I know we are crazy. I guess what we made the first time was more of a "whipped cream" with no sugar. The other way was soooo wonderful!!

I even fried an egg in the first "butter" and oh my goodness, was it wonderful! I mean, it was one of the best eggs ever!! It was sunny side up with all the white done and the yolk had a beautiful white color on the outside but was just absolutely runny on the inside. DELICIOUS!

Anyway, it was fun and the kids know that now when they go to make our butter they want to stop when the "noise" stops.

I'm still here....

were you wondering?? Did you think I go lost? Well, no, we just had a nice long weekend with DH. We were very lazy and will pay for it now but sometimes you need to be lazy.

Thursday, the kids and I went to see "The Red Badge of Courage" at the Roxy Theater. It was really good. DD was a little bored at first but she got into it eventually. I knew it would be a push for her but DS wanted to go and what was I going to do with her??? It was nice.

Friday- Monday was our long weekend with DH. He ended up feeling sickly but before that we went out to Chuck E. Cheese for some fun and pizza. We did that on Friday morning. Then we kind of went downhill from there.

Anyway, that was our weekend. Now it's Tuesday and we are back at school. We were up early eating breakfast and then they got busy on their work while I visited with DH after PT. When DH left for work we went for a nice walk. It is so nice outside. It's cloudy and we are expecting rain but the temperature is in the 50's!! SPRING FEVER!!

I think the kids are tiring of the Pioneers. I was taking it slow for them because they weren't retaining any of it but now, I'm slightly regretting that. I may just cut it a little short and we will go over it again in a year or two and cover the rushed part more in depth and what we studied in depth this time a little less. We'll see.

We all have spring fever. I want to plant a garden this year. We never have before and I definitely DO NOT have a green thumb but I think it would be fun and the kids would learn a lot. We have a couple of dilemmas.

1. We don't have a lot of extra money to spend on it.
2. Our yard is not fenced and we get a lot of deer and rabbits who could and probably would eat our veggies!
3. We want to grow everything!!

So, if anyone has any suggestions please give them!!! I think this is where will be heading on our unit studies. It seems like a natural flow from the pioneers.

A Valentine....

This morning I got up and made a special breakfast of pull apart bread or monkey bread depending what you call it. It was wonderful. We all had a nice breakfast together.

As I was finishing putting it all on the table, we passed out our homemade valentine's. It was so fun! The kids enjoyed it much more this way and what they enjoyed most was the giving part!! They were so excited to see each of us open the card the had made. DH said, "Wow, wasn't this SO MUCH better than spending a ton of money on junk?" Everyone said, "YES!"

For school today the kids did their math and now they are doing some copy work of Love scripture. Then we will talk about Valentine's Day and bake some cookies. We will probably have some read a loud time too. DD has some more valentine's to work on I have a few other things up my sleeve as well.


So....

Happy Valentine's Day, dear cyber friends.

Hope your day is filled with lots of love.

Homeschool...

Fun! That's what it is! The kids got right on their work this morning and they did all the work that they do on their own and then we went on to do some of our together work. When all our work was done for the day, I let DD turn on movie she had checked out of the library that she had been wanting me to watch with her. It was called "Rigoletto" and it was a very good family movie with a wonderful story and lesson.

I have several quilts that need mending so I pulled one out to work on as we watched the movie. DD asked for a needle and I gave her one as I kept on working. After a while I looked over and she was sewing little "boas" for her Barbies! How cute is that! She took some scrap fabric and some old lace I had and voila! She was very proud of her little creations. Me too!!

She is a cutie patootie.

Friday...

Well, it was definitely a Friday here. A slow one at that.

We were up and busy at work by 8:30! DH had somewhere he had to be this morning so he was out early. They got busy with their math and language arts right off. Then they moved on to making some pages for their notebooking. We watched a science video yesterday and so they made their pages for that. They did great! The are really getting into it.

We are going to see "The Red Badge of Courage" at our local theater next week so we read the book a few days ago and today we watched the movie while we ate lunch. They really enjoyed it. We watched the one with Audie Murphy. They are very excited about seeing it on stage.

After that I let them go outside for a bit but it was really too cold. DD came in and worked some more on her Valentine's.

Most everything they did today was stuff they could do on their own so i was able to straighten up the house a little and do a little laundry. I even got to spend some writing!

I feel like we need to have days here and there to take more slowly. You know to relax. Most of the time we are rushing in this book or that and well, it can be too much so, today, slow is good.

Lately...

Well, we have been busy. We are going to start "really" notebooking. We've been doing it a little with our unit studies but I think I've been kind of controlling it too much and it hasn't been much fun for them.

I've been reading a little about it and listening to an audio by Cindy Rushton about it and I've been inspired. I've told the kids to just kind of go at it. To make it fun. They do have to write but they can draw, make collages, use photos from the Internet or make copies of pics from books. Anything goes and they have fallen in love.

Yesterday, we bought some cheap notebooks and some page protectors. Science is a subject we really neglect. I don't like it and DS doesn't either. DD does but she forgets it too. So, I told them that there is Science everywhere and that when they see it, either in nature or on TV, or in the kitchen wherever, they should do a page (however they want) and put it in a notebook. I told them it could be fun!

Well, yesterday they both did a couple of pages and then DD said she wanted to do Science first today. We did a little experiment and now they are both over working hard on their pages. DS is drawing (he loves to draw, or excuse me "sketch") and DD is painting. I just hope they learned something from it.

Last year, DS and I bought a book on doing Science through literature and so we are kind of using it to get ideas. Yesterday we read the book "Sarah Plain and Tall" and we have talked about farms and maps and now today we are doing weather. We made a cloud in glass. They got so excited to see it. It was fun. I hope we can keep it up.

We are still doing our Pioneer unit. We are enjoying it. They are retaining so much more information now that we are going so slow. It's supposed to be done in a month but we are going much slower. We are doing a lot of reading together. We've read "My Side of the Mountain", "On to Oregon", "Sarah Plain and Tall", DD and I read "Little House in the Big Woods", they read books on different Pioneers on their own and write about it in their Pioneer journals. We are going to read "Sign of the Beaver", and "Jimmy Spoon and the Pony Express" as well. They love read alouds.

We are going to be able to mix in science with our Pioneer unit now that I'm trying harder to do so. We can do weather and terrain.

Their math is going well. I bought them both a couple of workbooks to do a little review and move on. I'm waiting until the fall to get new books. They are doing well in both. They do a lot of writing that count as language arts and they get vocabulary in the unit too. They have some quotes with the unit for their copy work and they both have workbooks to do some fill in as well.

We are going strong! We are having to slow down a little our extra stuff because we just don't have time to get everything in but they are doing well and we are having fun.

Today...

Today, we went grocery shopping and looked for the best deals. They were both very helpful and we had a good time. The first of the month grocery shopping is always so much because you have those items you only buy once a month or so. I always cringe at the check out counter and wonder how we will ever make it to the end of the month.

Then we spent the afternoon making homemade Valentine's. They had fun and were quite creative. DD even made little gifts. She even opened a necklace of her's to get beads off for a gift. How sweet is that!!!

I need to work on DS a little and make him do a little more but his cards are precious. He quickly ran off with them to hide them until the 14th.

DD isn't feeling all that well. Her ear is bothering her and her head hurts off and on. Poor baby. She's been taking it really slow but she has been getting a lot done.

DS has finally finished his Math book and now we will be testing to see what book he needs next.

That's about it here for now. Love to hear from anyone!!

Nature

This morning after DH left for work, the kids and I bundled up and went for a nature walk out at our local fairgrounds.

DD just kept saying isn't it beautiful! Too cute. DS just kept talking about how he wants us to buy some property and build a house on it. He wants "about 50 acres but 22 will do". He's so funny. I wish I could do it for him. I would in a heartbeat if we had the money and some property to buy!

We saw a couple of different types of birds and we watched the water move along wondering what was underneath that we couldn't see. We walked for quite a ways. We looked at the different trees. Did I mention that our Fairgrounds is an arboretum? Well, it is and they had some wonderful trees. The magnolias were the only green trees and then there were a couple of American Holly bushes that were green. They were all lovely. Some of the other trees had little buds on them still tightly closed. There was one tree (not marked with a name) that had these furry little buds all over it.

I only wish I had remembered to take the camera!! The pictures would have been great! They love going on these walks. We had been doing weekly but some how got out of the habit. I need to get back into it!

Today...

Good morning dear friends. I hope you all are doing well this morning. I've got the kids started on their morning chores and such and thought I'd just jot a few notes here.

Yesterday, the kids put some of their art work in our little online store to sell. They are prints of their originals and they are very good. DD's would be cute framed in a little girl's room and DS's would look very nice in a music room or framed on a piano. I'm very proud of them both.

We've had a difficult month, so we decided to try to help out a little with our little store. We have some used books and what not in it.

Today we are have a little catching up to do, but it shouldn't be a problem. We're only behind if we think we are so.... We'll be doing more on our Pioneers. We finished reading "My Side of the Mountain" last week. We loved it!! We have started another book now called "On to Oregon!" by Honore Morrow. We've only read the first chapter. We are hoping to read several more today. We'll see how our other work goes. My reading aloud to them is treat for when they finish their other work.

Well, I best get to work. I have some dishes I need to put away before I start breakfast. Have a glorious day and stay warm!

Let's see...

Well, last Friday we went to the Roxy Regional Theater to see a play of Beatrix Potter's stories. It was really cute. Of course it was too young for DS but I heard him laugh a few times. DD loved it. They both came home and made scrapbook pages. We printed off some pictures of some of her characters from online and then they wrote a little about it. They did a great job on them.

This week are moving on with our pioneers. Yesterday we talked about Jedidiah Smith. Interesting fact, he was a Methodist! So are we!! Anyway, they both wrote very nice little paragraphs (DS's was several) on him. Today we will start down the Oregon Trail. I think they are enjoying it and I think it going much better taking it slow. We are doing what the unit calls a week in about two. They just really need to spend more time on each subject in order to retain it.

We just got home from doing our church work and the library. They are now getting busy with their core subjects, and begging for an early lunch. I guess I will go and find them something. Have a wonderful day!

This week

This week has been rather slow. DH was home on Monday so we spent the day with him. It was very nice and we all enjoyed it.

Then Tuesday we did our "community" work. We filled the Fuel Bags at our church and then we filled the children's folders for Sunday morning. Afterward, we went to the library and checked out the books we need for the next week or two in our Pioneer Study.

Wednesday we worked hard on our lessons. DS has started doing some more structured grammar and a little geography and science along with his math. Of course our history is the Pioneer study. I think they are enjoying it. We've been learning about Sacagawea, Conestoga Wagons and the Monroe Doctrine. DD and I are reading "Little House in the Big Woods" and she is loving it. We are all almost finished with "My Side of the Mountain" which we all love. It's a great story.

Today has been more of the same as yesterday. Tomorrow we are going to the Theater to see "Mittens, Tom Kitten and Moppet: More tales of Beatrix Potter ". It's a little young for DS but I think Live theater is good for everyone.

We are busy busy busy. I need to do some more planning and such but I think we are doing pretty well.

Have a wonderful day dear friends and let me hear from you!

Field trip!!

That's what we did yesterday! We had a wonderful time! We went to the Meriwether Lewis Site on the Natchez Trace Parkway. We are talking about Lewis and Clark and their expedition so this was really neat.

This cabin is where the old Grinder Inn was located, which is where Lewis died. They had a nice exhibit in there talking about the expedition and about Lewis mostly. The kids really enjoyed it. There was a "Pioneer Cemetery" . This is where Lewis was buried. It was too cute because since it was called a Pioneer Cemetery, DD thought that all the pioneers we had read about should be there so she was looking for Daniel Boone. We had to explain that one to her. They were very excited to be there.

After we looked at all this, we went for a picnic. We found a table right by the river. It was beautiful! The kids said they didn't even mind the cold! It was in the mid to low 40s.

After lunch we went hiking. The kids had a great time. Me too! The trip was better than I imagined. It was about a 2 hour drive down there and we didn't mind it a bit. We visited and visited this whole way. DS talked and talked and DD pointed out every horse, cow, chicken and goat like she had never seen them before. Now they can't wait for it to warm up so that we can camping out there. They think it is the neatest place ever for camping. They loved the river. That was their favorite thing. I'll post some more pictures. Enjoy!

I'm still down on my back but wanted to say that we are really enjoying our Pioneers unit. If you are interested here is a link to it and there are lots of great resources here too! Go check it out!

Pioneers Unit Study

Mommy is down on her back...

Yes, I am. We got through most of our school day but then out of no where the pain was unbearable! We didn't get any of the fun stuff done today but they did get their core work done.

Then because it was easy we watched a thing on History International on the French Revolution. DD left after about 30 minutes. She watched more than I thought she would! DS and I watched all 2 hours of it. I had DVRed it a while back so we could fast forward through the commercials.

Now we are having a home living class. DS is helping to cook dinner. He's really doing it all. I keep getting up to show him how to do something or to add that motherly touch but he's doing most of it. He's fixing Green Enchiladas. He just finished. He did a great job. We were just getting it ready so that later all we have to do is put it into the oven.

Now, I'm back to my couch for a while. Send all the healing thoughts you can!

Pioneers day 1

Today we have done all the regulars and then some. The regulars are math, language, science and so on...

For our Pioneer study we made a beanbag target game. They loved that and we took it outside to play in the driveway until started raining. They fussed because they didn't want to stop playing.

They copied their quote into their Pioneer journals, "I have never been lost but I will admit to being confused for several weeks." Daniel Boone

They did their words of wisdom. DS - homestead and challenge. DD - home and trail

DS wrote a short paragraph on Daniel Boone and what he did that was important to the Pioneers. (Finding the Cumberland Gap.)

They both read books about Daniel Boone and we read one yesterday that really chronicled his life quite well.

Tomorrow we will go on an Internet field trip along the Wilderness Trail.

Should be fun!

Unit Studies

That's what we are trying for now. We did the Veterans Day one and then the Thanksgiving one. We are now starting a Pioneer one. I'm really looking forward to it. So are the kids.

I am kind of revising it though. Well, not exactly. I'm just going to do it my way. I tried doing our own unit for Christmas but it didn't really go to well. I need the the structure already done for me for now but I'm going to take this one and make it ours.

Last year, when DS and I first started we would pick a book to read together and then we study the time in which it took place. We really enjoyed doing that. (Not sure if picked the book first or the time.) That was a wonderful time when we both loved doing our homeschooling. It was fun but then I started worrying about if we doing it right or enough and decided to change things. Well, I think that was a HUGE mistake.

So for our Pioneer study, we have chosen a book to read together again in the same manner. I'm also going to go much slower than the unit study is set up for but I think we need more time for each subject. This unit pretty much does a person a day and I don't feel like the kids get enough or able to retain as much that way so we are going more slowly. It will be more fun I think too.

I've also checked out some books that have crafts and projects for us to do to see how the pioneers lived and what they did. I hope it will be lots of fun.

We will also be doing math and language arts and some science.

Well, best get back to my wonderful children. DS is taking a little test for practice. He's getting ready for the state standardized test in the next few months. DD is busy doing math, fractions!!

Have a wonderful day!

Veteran's Day!

I know, I'm a few days behind. We did a unit study on Veteran's Day last week and I thought I'd share a little with you guys.

I asked the kids to write about their favorite Veteran or American Patriot. It didn't have to be one of the specific ones we talked about during their study, it could anyone as long as they are a Veteran. Here's what they wrote:

Son.... "Dear Dad (he put the name but we try to remain anonymous) is an American Patriot. I think he is an American Patriot because he served honorably in the Su.S. Army. He is a Veteran of three wars, Korea, O.E.F, and O.I.F. He cureently just got back from Iraq. Not only is he a war vet, he's my dad."

Daughter... "My favorite veteran is my dad. He's an American Patriot because he's in the army. He's very special because he does his part in America and he serves American by leaving his country."

Okay, let me explain the leaving.... she mean leaving his family to serve his country but when she wrote it down she got a little confused. She is only 7.

DS hates to write so that he wrote even that little bit is amazing. He prefers to do it all orally in discussions. But doing these unit studies has really helped his handwriting a lot! Maybe he'll writing more before long.

During our unit we talked about Presidents Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower, Colin Powell, and George C. Marshall. We also listened to music by John Phillip Sousa.

It was neat unit. If you like unit studies you might check out Amanda Bennett's.

Oh my... Homeschooling. I can never seem to stay with any thing for long. It seems that I get scared and have to switch every so many months!! This is terrible because I can't afford to switch this often!! I'm driving myself crazy.

I really about DS. He's the oldest and he's the one that has to take the standardized test this year. I worry that I'm holding him back and not teaching what he really needs. Oh how I worry!

We've been rather eclectic. I pick and chose here and there what I want to use. I had decided on the Latin Centered Curriculum this year. Well, I'm really not sure this is working for us. Wait, I should say for me. I'm having a harder time with it than they are but I'm the one that is supposed to be teaching it! Plus, I'm not sure that DS is learning all the grammar he needs at this level. It would be different if we were starting at the beginning but we aren't. He's in the 7th grade!

There needs to be more help on how to start in the middle! Most everything out there to read about homeschooling assumes you are starting at the beginning. It's rather frustrating.

Okay, I'm frustrated and worried. It will be okay though. I know it will.

Well, it's been awhile. Sorry. My DH is home safe and sound from the desert and so we have been enjoying his return. You can read about it over at Musings by Mommy . This week he has been home a lot so we are having a really laid back homeschool week. They are getting a little work done here and there. They usually do math and Latin everyday but not always right now.

Today, DD did Latin and then decided to start her own business with a newsletter so she's been typing and collecting money.

DS has been reading a book on Aztecs and the Spaniards. Now he is in typing on the computer working on a newsletter himself.

This week, we've been on nature walks, have learned about hanging things on the walls. We've been shopping with the kids figuring out the best buys and totals. We've cleaned the garage and basement and the kids have played together a lot. We've cooked a bit and watched some discovery channel. I know learning is going on, it's just not very structured right now but you know what? I think that's okay! Being with Dad is what is important right now and so that's what we are doing the most of for now.

Also, I switched to the new beta blogger so if you are unable to post a comment please come over to Mommy's Musings and post a comment there. When I realized that the beta was going to cause such problems I started a new blog there. Come visit me there.

Have a great day!