Kickbutt's Crazy Lapbooks

My new obsession

2011-12-07T08:29:00.000-08:00

I've been a very bad blogger lately (Bad Shannon!). We are just wrapping up our fall session at coop - and had tons of fun! The boys had really gotten into it this year! I taught 3 classes - which has totally burned me out (Physics, Geography and Latin). But the kids all seemed to have a great time.

I just signed up as an Usborne books consultant. These are the best books for kids out there - everything from awesomely illustrated reference books, to great early readers, to learning kits for science, math and art. Check out my website www.theusbornelearningfairy.com . I just can't believe that I can feed my book addiction and make money at it! It's awesome! I especially love that you can get library bindings on the books. I'll never forget some of the board books my boys loved as toddlers (especially Sandra Boyton's The Cow Says Moo) and how sad we were that the bindings all fell apart! I had been hoping to keep them for when my boys have children, as a keepsake (I have a couple of the books I loved as a kid) but the books completely fell apart. I was so sad. So I love that families can get books that will last with little hands playing with them. And whomever illustrates the books are amazing - they are so colorful and beautiful and don't cost any more than a normal kids book.

Looking forward to the holidays!
Shannon

Electric Toy Car

2011-11-17T16:54:00.000-08:00

It's super easy but I'll give you all the complicated explanations to go along with it.
Example of a simple motor - this helps the student see what will be going on inside their motor. Here's another example of explaining a toy electric car.

My DH had fun assembling our sample car with the kids - we actually had a wood kit car that we used for our sample but the class is making it the long way over several weeks -

Supplies -

Toy motor from Radio Shack (costs about $5)
Wood scraps - ~ 2" x 4" block of 1" thick pine (or whatever is cheapest) to be the base, 2 1/2" long square blocks of the same wood to be the axles and one 2" long one for the 'windshield' base. Small pieces of wood to make the seat so that the seat is raised a bit so it will fit over the motor bracket.
1 pkg small wood screws
1 pkg small brass nails
Wood Glue
Drill with 5mm drill bit
Metal bracket to hold the motor
8 Milk Caps
2 Large Rubber Bands - 4 smaller rubber bands
1 5" Nail
2 small rubber washers
2 metal small washers
4 tiny metal washers for the weels.
1 Curtain pully (from Home Depot costs about $.89)
AA Battery Holder (also from Radio Shack)
2 AA Batteries
Wood Paint
a couple of electrical wires

Procedure -

1. Assemble the frame of the 'car' - glue and either nail or screw on the axles, the windshield. Build the 'seat' but don't affix it to the frame as of yet.
2. Drill a 5 mm hole through the middle of the base cross wise, this will be for the drive train.

3. Paint the car and let completely dry.
4. Affix the motor, battery holder and wires to the base. (If you can, solder the the wires to the motor, otherwise you'll have to keep reattatching them)
5. Glue the curtain pulley to the 5" nail. Assemble the drive train like this:

6. Glue 2 milk tops back 2 back you can use a small piece from a tire tube to be the rubber around the tire if you'd like.
7. Screw the wheels to the axles so that is goes wheel-washer-screw
8. 1 Small ruber band goes from the motor to the curtain pulley, a small rubber band then goes around the drive shaft to each wheel. Finally a large rubberband goes around the front and back wheels.

Final Product.

If it goes backward then you'll need to reverse the wires

Think! Creative blog for kids

2011-10-22T06:41:00.000-07:00

I absolutely LOVE this blog - written by a mom who started her own school, she believes kids should be allowed the freedom to be creative! I remember being a kid with a gigantic washing machine box and being content to play for days in the thing. Well this blog is along those lines - giving ideas on getting the kids creative with stuff you have around - like making robots out of the stuff in your junk drawer!

http://kidswhothink.blogspot.com/

Free Websites Master Lists

2011-09-10T06:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, a while ago I made a list of my most used free worksheet links, there are of course many more webpages that I have found important in my HS - from fun interactive sites for the kids, to sites designed for different types of learners (my oldest is a visual). Here is my list of what is in my favorites list.
Blessings -
Shannon

Interactive Sites -
Miamiopia - the kids LOVE this site and play it while I'm making dinner.
Big IQ - math, spelling & Geography. The kids play about 30 minutes each.
12 Dozen Places to Educate Your Kids
Click n' Kids (Phonics and spelling) -- ok this is not free, it is about $50/mo but it is sooo fun!
Head of the Class - this site is a little disappointing - each lesson starts with a great animation, but many (MANY) of the lessons are actually worksheets. But it is free, and great on a day I'm sick or the kids need a distraction.
MEP
http://www.cypsd.k12.ca.us/Curriculum/curr/6thgrade.htm
http://www.learnerstv.com/index.php
http://www.powayusd.com/projects/edtechcentralnew/2-3standards.htm
http://guest.portaportal.com/jrll5math

Geography -

Math -
http://www.numbernut.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/20090328203303/http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mep/default.htm
http://www.moneyinstructor.com/money.asp
http://www.learner.org/courses/learningmath/geometry/
http://www.georgehart.com/slide-togethers/slide-togethers.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20090303195849/http://www.jamesbrennan.org/algebra/
http://visualmathlearning.com/index.php

Science -
http://education.jlab.org/indexpages/elementgames.php
http://www.christianhomeschoolhub.spruz.com/blog.htm?cat_id=013DE729-EF52-4E9F-9A4E-28646B368CC8
http://freescienceonline.blogspot.com/
http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/how
http://science.howstuffworks.com/
http://science.discovery.com/videos/kapow-superhero-science-hurricane-science.html
http://learningscience.org/
http://mycourses.med.harvard.edu/public/
http://nsdl.org/
http://www.cosmos4kids.com/
http://www.learner.org/resources/series49.html
http://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/pringles_pinhole.html
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/lessons.php?DocID=312
http://www.thecraftyclassroom.com/HomeschoolPrintablesScientificMethod.html
http://www.rocksandminerals4u.com/what_is_a_mineral.html
http://xplor.mdc.mo.gov/#wildguide

Computer Science
http://videolectures.net/Top/Computer_Science/
http://freecomputerbooks.com/
http://www.freetechbooks.com/
http://libguides.library.albany.edu/cs_guide
http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Portal:Computer_Science
http://lifehacker.com/5401954/programmer-101-teach-yourself-how-to-code
http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/forum/78-programming-tutorials/
http://w3schools.com/

Lesson Plans -
http://teachers.net/lessonplans/subjects/science/

more to come!

Our Worse Enemy -- OURSELVES!

2011-09-10T05:22:00.000-07:00

I've been running groups like this one for years now. I've been HS'ing my own kids since they were toddlers. I'm the first person to defend HS as a viable resource. I'm the shoulder other newbies cry on. And I shake my head at the worries and guilt new HS parents often experience. But I will fully admit even I can sometimes fall prey to the even twin resting on my shoulder whispering guilt and doubt. I thought I'd write this post for all other HS mom's who stongly defend their decision then, late in the night when no one is watching, bite my fingernails to the quick.

Here are some of my guilty whisperings:

Gosh, we don't spend nearly the amount of time on HS as PS kids do...what with going to school for 8 hours then having a couple of hours of homework when they get home...Now, intellectually I know we don't need as much time as the kids are getting one on one attention, and the curriculum is designed specifically for their learning styles. I'm not trying to fit square pegs into round holes. But even I will sometimes question our dedication. When we do coop once a week, I will slack on the other days, not doing as much (and I know many other parents who do nothing at all on those other 6 days a week)....and I'm one of those parents who think all of life is a learning experience, so technically our kids are learning all of the time...but still I'll feel whisperings of doubt occasionally.

I'm not a trained professional. My oldest son has Aspergers (a form of Autism). I can not conceive of him thriving in a PS setting. And yet I know (supposedly) he'd be surrounded by 'experts' if I put him in the ps system. In fact I had a hard time finding a doctor who a. supported HS or b. would dx him without having a report from a school psychologist. Again my son is in a safe environment where I can give him the freedom to explore his stengths to his hearts content, and work gently on his weaknesses....but I had a hard time learning about his learning style, and I feel (ocassionally) that we wasted those years that I tried to teach him with a different style. I know he would have been bullied and miserable in a group setting (he has high anxiety) but ocassionally I too will doubt my abilities.

My house looks like the setting for an epic war film. One of the hardest parts of HS is getting balance. Especially since I'm legally handicapped and can't be on my feet for long periods of time. So I will shrug off keeping the kitchen spotless to instead watch hours of documentaries with the kids. Or I won't do laundry so we can instead work on building a volcano. Our house is cleaning central on the weekends, which the kids hate. But I will sometimes feel guilty for taking my quiet reading time in the evening after the kids go to bed. Our house would sparkle, but I'd probably be homicidal without it. I'm the first to tell parents the importance of taking decompression time, but it doesn't stop the guilt.

So ladies. Acknowledge your guilt and doubt, own it. I believe the doubt and fear are part and parcel with being a good parent. It keeps us on our toes, always striving to be the best parent/teacher we can be. No matter what your guilt/doubt know that you ARE good enough, you ARE smart enough, and you ARE doing what is right for YOUR family.

Blessings!

Grammar lapbooks

2011-08-26T07:18:00.000-07:00

http://trying2walkwisely.blogspot.com/2009/05/first-language-lessons-lapbook-year-one.html
http://www.squidoo.com/grammar-for-homeschool
Phonics - http://lapbooklessons.com/PhonicsLapbookAT.html
http://www.a-z-worksheets.com/grammar-definitions.html
http://homeschoolfreestuff.wordpress.com/english/grammar/
Grammar game - http://jimmiescollage.com/2009/05/grammar-game/

Great new resources -
http://www.thatresourcesite.com/my_book_mini-books_books.htm
TONS OF LINK - http://www.homeschoolforfree.net/2007/09/lapbooking-links.html
http://www.squidoo.com/pioneers_Oregontrail

Landforms Lapbooks

2011-08-26T06:42:00.000-07:00

http://cgullworld.blogspot.com/2008/08/top-10-glaciers-in-world.html
http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/habitats.html
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/10155-lakes-and-ponds-introduction-to-lakes-and-ponds-video.htm
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/11858-land-and-water-glaciers-video.htm
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/25531-learning-geographical-terms-high-landforms-video.htm
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/22706-learning-geographical-terms-low-landforms -video.htm
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/20531-natural-phenomena-spectacular-canyons-video.htm
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/11872-oceans-introduction-to-oceans-video.htm
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/geography/peninsula-videos-playlist.htm#video-18811
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/19472-shorelines-bay-video.htm
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/18848-the-southwest-the-great-plains-video.htm
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/nalnd.htm
http://cybersleuth-kids.com/sleuth/Science/Earth_Science/Land_Forms/
http://www.eduplace.com/kids/socsci/books/applications/imaps/maps/g2_u2/index.html
http://www.kidinfo.com/science/geology.html
http://www.webcrawler.com/webcrawler_stoolfefbar/ws/results/Web/Landform%20For%20Kids/1/302360/RightNav/Relevance/iq=true/zoom=off/_iceUrlFlag=7?_IceUrl=true
http://www.edu.pe.ca/southernkings/landforms.htm
http://itouchmap.com/latlong.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mountain_ranges
http://www.onlinegkguide.com/2008/09/01/major-gulfs-of-the-world/
http://www.scienceclarified.com/landforms/Ocean-Basins-to-Volcanoes/Plain.htmlhttp://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20050914/Feature1.asp
http://scienceray.com/earth-sciences/physical-geography/the-worlds-most-beautiful-bays/
http://www.kidsgeo.com/geology-for-kids/0031-what-are-landforms.php
http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-maps/world-geography-map.html
http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-major-island.htm
http://www.squidoo.com/salt-dough-maps

Vocabulary Lapbook

2011-08-26T06:40:00.002-07:00

http://www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/language_arts/vocab/five/
http://www.tampareads.com/wrksheet/index-4b.htm
http://www.vocabulary.co.il/
http://treasures.macmillanmh.com/georgia/teachers/resources/grade3/spelling-and-vocabulary-activities
http://www.proteacher.com/cgi-bin/outsidesite.cgi? id=12912&external=http://www.factmonster.com/cgi-bin/word&original=http://www.proteacher.com/070169.shtml&title=Word of the Day
http://www.perucsd.org/claundree/3rd%20grade%20spelling_words.htm
http://www.vrml.k12.la.us/cc/vp_gle/2nd/ela/trophy/2nd/speed_read/speed.htm
http://www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/language_arts/vocab/third /
http://www.vocabulary.com/

Lapbooks for the comming year - 2011-2012

2011-08-26T06:40:00.000-07:00

This come year....am I dead yet?

2011-08-25T05:20:00.000-07:00

Well I'm very, VERY excited to report that my Latin curriculum is finally finished! (It only took me 4 months to design the 3 workbooks....of course they are all about 200 pages each). And I'm one of 4 women in charge of our cooperative this year - which is difficult as most of us only participated in 1 co-op semester before being on the board. Check out Latin Fructus for grades k-7.

Now, as most of you know, I usually spend most of the summer designing my comming years curriculum. But, due to the excitement of designing the Latin curriculum, and getting everything together for my oldest sons first appointment with a behaviorist on the road to his Aspergers diagnosis - the appointment is on Monday....gulp!!

So this week I've begun to compile our curriculum. Since it's kind of last minute, and since the boys are getting older (sniffle, sniffle), I'm doing a single combined curriculum. This means the boys will be learning the same subject, with the same topic, but different worksheet levels. I did it this way so I could finish the curriculum quickly - and they always end up joined at the hip for lesson time anyway. The cirric isn't completely done - but here's an example of our September breakdown -

Week 1:

Geography – City/State/Capital Maps
Cursive – U
Reading Comprehension – Main Idea & Supporting Facts
LA – Noun Review
Writing – Capitalization Review
Geometry – Angles
Math - Addition Review
Western Civ – The Greeks
American History – Native Americans
Science -
Music / Art - to be determined
Economics - to be determined
Spelling - Unit 1
Biography – George Washington

Week 2:

Geography – Map Scale
Cursive – S
Reading Comprehension – Amelia Earhart
LA – Pronouns
Writing – Capitalization Review
Geometry – Measuring Angles
Math – Addition Review
Western Civ – The Greeks
American History – Native Americans, MTH
Science -
Music / Art -
Economics -
Spelling - Unit 2
Biography – John Addams

Week 3:

Geography – Political Maps
Cursive – T
Reading Comprehension – Automobiles
LA – Possessives
Writing – Capitalization Review
Geometry – Triangles
Math - Subtraction Review
Western Civ – Alexander the Great
American History – French Indian War
Science -
Music/Art -
Economics -
Spelling -
Biography – Thomas Jefferson

Week 4:

Geography – City/State/National Maps
Cursive – Y
Reading Comprehension – Ben Franklin
LA – Look it up
Writing – Capitalization Review
Geometry – Lines, Rays & Segments
Math – Subtraction Review
Western Civ – Start of Rome
American History – Taxation w/o Representation –Boston Tea Party
Science -
Music / Art -
Economics -
Spelling -
Biography – John Quincy Addams

Designing Your Own Curriculum

2011-07-23T04:27:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I've always designed my own curriculum's for the boys. It's not that difficult and it's waaaay cheaper than a pre-packaged curriculum. The only things I pay for are www.enchantedlearning.com and http://www.teachervision.fen.com which are great for printables I can't find for free or make myself. Here's the general idea of how I go about designing my own curriculum's -

I start my curriculum matrix using the books I have - "What Your ____ Grader Needs To Know", HS Year by Year, etc. I make a large spread sheet for the whole curriculum where I put all the lesson 'topics'
I search the web for free matrix from other boards of ed on what is expected for the spread of grades I'll be teaching (my kids are not in any 1 grade, they advance subject by subject as necessary)these are added, or adjust the curriculum spread sheet.
I make a general matrix of the expectations based on those printouts from #1 & 2. To do this, I usually write in a list of resourcces for each lesson.
I add or subtract from that matrix based on my own knowledge of my boys - do I think they need more challenge, what units I want to add in, etc.
I organize the Curriculum Matrix by month - Make a plan of how I can overlap lessons. It's very easy to go overboard and plan this insane curriculum. But, especially with multiple students, there are only so many hours and so many lessons you can do at once (there's also only 1 of me, but 2 of them). So I figure out how I can teach 1 lesson for different grade levels, at the same time - this means sometimes I might be teaching my youngest at a much higher grade level (then just making worksheets or lapbooks for his appropriate levels)
I make a plan of how I can combine lesson subjects. Again it can get overwhelming for the kids and me if I have to teach 12 subjects in a given day -- so I'll try to look at a lesson and try to think of how I can work multiple subjects from it - -for instance, The Trans-Continental Railroad, I'll search for ways engineers measured the distance between tracks and stations or whatever - MATH, then I'll find a Magic Tree House book that touches on it - READING, the kids can research which towns were most affected by the railroad and make a Travel By Rail brochure (GEOGRAPHY/HISTORY)....yes this lesson would take a few days, but I would not have to keep switching gears between subjects.
I search the web for resources - not just worksheets but research and teaching materials as well.
.I usually print EVERYTHING and organize it by month, so on the last day of the month (during the school year) I grab the next month's folder and organize it into 'week' folders, then on Friday, I take each week folder and separate it into 'day' boxes (which include manipulative's and such) so the kids can just grab that day's box and we're set. (Kinda like work boxes, but a little different). This organization is based on the Month Matrix.
Then I design any lapbooks we may need (I like to do a couple a month) and I get the boys' input on what they want their reading lists to be, and we choose our night-time reading books (I read these aloud).
Voila, all done!

Physics Progression Questions Answered

2011-06-07T17:02:00.000-07:00

In one of my online groups I had a mom ask me some questions about teaching science, and what progressions I suggest....here's my responses...

What books am I using for Quantum Physics?

We are using "Alice in Quantumland" and "Scrooge's Cryptic Carol" both are awesome for creating that visual picture for things that are so conceptual, as well as "The Cartoon Guide To Physics" and "Janice VanCleave's Physics for Every Kid: 101 Easy Experiments". But I've always just made my own curriculums.

What sequence did you use for beginning Physics?

Ok basically I taught/will teach them in this order -

Machines (levers, wheels, etc), Motion/Forces (intro Newton's Laws), Light & Sound/Waves, Optics, Matter/Fluids,Probability/Measurement, Electricity/Magnetism, Heat/Thermodynamics,The Atom, Quantum, Astro, Nuclear, The 10 Dimensions, Newton, Einstein, Steven Hawking, Neils Bohr = until the Quantum I didn't teach the formula's that went with the topics (since my kids were REALLY young when we started (toddlers) so much of the formula's were beyond them....that's why I introduced Newton then went back to it later in more depth - where I could include the mathematics (to a certain extent).

Although I also found my background made teaching math easier as well (haha) in that scientists like Physicists realize the 'numbers' in all equations are just titles or names for sets. This is the same in Physics with their advanced equations - each letter/symbol stands for another set. Believe it or not changing the 'number' names to symbols or letters keeps things more organized and less confusing. (of course many of the symbols also stand for other equations, but that's another matter). Many kids/teachers get caught up on the identifiers - the number 3 times the number 5 always makes the number 15 - then once the student reaches middle or high school we throw away the numbers in favor of letters/symbols for algebra when most student's lock up with confusion not understanding what the x's and the y's are supposed to be about, But I think I've digressed, lol...

Online Physics Resources?
Some of the websites I love:

http://www.school-for-champions.com/science.htm#Physics http://www.lbl.gov/abc/ http://www.chemmybear.com/shapes.html http://americanhistory.si.edu/kids/molecule/ http://www.mos.org/sln/Leonardo/InventorsToolbox.html http://www.howeverythingworks.org/ http://www.blackcatsystems.com/science/radiation.html
http://www.thinkingfountain.org/f/friction/friction.html
http://www.kqed.org/quest/television/view/397 (the science of a home run)
http://www.strangematterexhibit.com/
http://library.thinkquest.org/2779/
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/HFrame.html
http://mitchellscience.com/bernoulli_principle_animation
http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/
http://myweb.lmu.edu/gvarieschi/chimney/chimney.html
http://www.ncsu.edu/sciencejunction/station/experiments/EGG/egg.html#Pizza
http://ngsir.netfirms.com/englishVersion.htm
http://littleshop.physics.colostate.edu/onlineexperiments.htm
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/newtlaws/
http://slinky.org/ Demonstrating Physics Concepts with the Amazing Slinky!
http://surfaquarium.com/IT/physics.htm

http://www.pitt.edu/~poole/physics.html = For the Physics Teacher

{My husband suggested} to do basic physics, then basic chemistry, before diving into quantum or more advanced/specific physics? He said she will need that basic chem before more advanced physics?

As i sated in one of my previous replies, my oldest is also special needs - he has Aspergers, which makes straight up math (like multiplication tables) difficult. He's way advanced with understanding concepts though - like he can explain multiplication, he just get's confused when it's a worksheet in front of him. Anywho - because of this difficulty we are going a little out of the norm for progression. If we were focusing on advancing through science in the normal way, including most of the basic (if not calculus) equations, then I'd say yes. You want a solid understanding of basic physics and chemistry before going into the conceptual (like atomic and quantum) this is because the math for these are really advanced logrythms and calculus - so if you don't understand the math behind Force = Mass x Acceleration then you'll never understand E = MC squared. BUT, due to the complication of being able to manipulate mathmatics I took a round about root. I'm doing some of the more conceptual stuff first, without the mathmatics. So essentially we are covering the 'discussions' without the 'proof' - which to a physics buff sound really stupid - why discuss something when you have no concrete evidence such a thing is viable? But when teaching on of the hardest things for me was to teach the boys how THEY needed to learn not how I wished I had been TAUGHT. So that's the reason for the book choices I previously mentioned - they offer very little in the way of math. They are discussing the concepts of Physics as well as the history of the science. That's why we plan on going back and focusing on some of the most intrumental scientists later - to focus on the PROOF once my son catches up with the math. I didn't want to hold him back - he loves the discussions - just because learning the equations are much like learning to read a foreign language.
When it comes to Chemistry - we plan on covering basic chemistry when we focus on Atoms and their structure - this is primarily because we have no access to an advanced Chem lab, so again much of our lessons will be more conceptual (how this substance and this substance come together to form this substance). We can do several 'kitchen' experiments and the rest we can postulate on paper, which often involve breaking things down to the atomic level. Then near the middle-end of the year, once the kids have a handle on the structure and behavior of an atom, and how one substances atom reacts/mixes to another we can start filtering in more conceptual/modern discussions on sub-atomic and atomic theory. Which naturally would lead to the next level nuclear fission.

An understanding of basic physics - essentially Newton's Laws - is essential before even entering a discussion on the more specific physics. Chemistry is somewhat debatable. If one understands different types of matter (liquid, solid and gas) and a tiny bit of the structure/differences of matter, as well as some very basic machines, then you can easily have broad discussions in Quantum and Astro Physics. Nuclear really should have a basis in light and heat (as it is all about radiation) and Atomic theory should have a solid comprehension of the structure of matter (atoms and molecules). But again, it all depends on how you teach basic physics. Furthermore for a solid A & P class one doesn't really even need to have physics nor chemistry, you could technically do it before biology as it really focuses so specifically on the human body as a machine.

That's how we've been working things though....as I always say, what works for one may not work for another.

Free Spelling Lists

2011-06-07T16:56:00.000-07:00

I found this great link today to one of our hardest subjects - SPELLING -
http://www.homespellingwords.com/index.htm

This Summer

2011-05-22T12:35:00.000-07:00

This year was a wild ride. From my oldest embarking on the long road to an Aspergers diagnosis, our first foray into the world of Co-Op and both my hubby and I getting laid off, it's been an interesting ride. But I've learned so much this year - about myself, my children, and about how best to teach them and encourage the young men they are. This summer i'm hoping it will be fun and interesting and educational. I technically school year round - but our summer months are more like fun projects rather than lots of 'book' learning. Furthermore, both DJ and Xman work on the same project (rather than doing some stuff at one level and other stuff at the others' level). Well, here's our plans - mine and there's

My Homework -

Finish designing my Latin Curriculum. It's been beyond frustrating with the crap on the market for young kids in the subject of Latin.
Put together a list of Lapbooks to do for the coming year, and complete them.
Design the curriculum for the next year.

DJ's Special Project -

Design and write Pokemon website, as well as starting Web Store

Boys Joint Projects -

Make a Solar Car. We're going to be building medium size wood cars and then building small solar enginges.
Percy Jackson & The Olympians series as well as learning about Greek & Roman Gods, Roman Times, and what the world was like in ancient times.
Multiplication - get comfortable with Multiplication
Alice in Quantum Land & Scrooge's Cryptic Carol - learning a bit about physics and quantum physics.
Exploring Painting and other mediums of art.

Amazing new resource!!

2011-05-13T14:38:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I used to use Time4Learning and IXLmath websites for school for the boys....but I'm really cheap so couldn't countenance spending money on them - and Time4Learning really decreases in interesting material for them....so I've been searching for replacement. I've come to like Head of the Class (but they have a lot of printables, which don't work well with my oldest)....and I absolutely LOVE Khan Academy.org for math, as it is full of videos. But another HS mom happened to mention another great resource to me today - Free World U - it is a free resource, but it is also an accredited online school. If you need to use an accredited program then you can pay $90/year (very reasonable!). It is essentially an interactive flash-card type set-up. I wish they had some sound (as my oldest is very much an audio learner) but still, as a free resource it can't be beat!

Art Fair Project - Optics & Light

2011-04-09T09:03:00.000-07:00

We are so excited to finally have the International Fair behind us...and what do I do? Sign them up for another fair of course!! (I'm still looking for a science one in our area for HS'ers..lol..then our year will be complete). This time it's an art fair....now I'm not super arty - I am crafty (as evidenced by all the craft things we just did for the other fair), but we're now on a strict budget so purchasing a ton of craft supplies is outta the question....

Instead, I spent $30 on all our supplies (and will have whatever film development costs these days, I'm budgeting another $10 for our 36 exposures)...

Purchase List: (from Amazon)
DIY Pinhole Camera - $12.95
Super Sunprint Kit - $14.95
35mm, ISO 100 B&W professional film - $7.44
1 PVC Pipe w/ End Cap
Weather Stripping (aka foam rope w/ adhesive)
1 Roll Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil (for making reflective Surfaces)

Projects:

Pinhole photos (using various light strengths as well as some reflective surfaces)
Sun Prints (using the same light strength and reflective surfaces)
Digital Photos (will show the progression of photography as well as exposure)
Home-Made Kaleidoscope
Rainbow on Paper Experiment
Blue Sky Experiment
Milk-dish soap-food color/ color mixing experiment

Links -
Make and Use a Pinhole Camera, by Kodak
Opaque Surfaces, by Teacher Vision
Reflecting Light Rays, by Teacher Vision
Light Experiments ABC Teach
Fun and Learning With Photography, by Edutaining Kids
How Camera's Work, by How Stuff Works
How Digital Camera's Work, by How Stuff Works
How Photographic Film Works, by How Stuff Works
History of Photography & Processes, by the National Portrait Gallery
Trouble Shooting your Pinhole Camera, by Photo.net
Understanding Photography, by Wikipedia
Understanding Histograms, by Luminous Landscape
Intro to Photography, by Pieces of Science
Build a Darkroom & more, by Black & White World
Light & Optics, by Physics 4 Kids
Optics For Kids, by Optical Research Assoc
Make a home-made Kaleidoscope, by Univ of Arizona
Experiments with Light, by Hunkins Experiments
Make a Rainbow on the Wall, lesson plan by Lesson Plans Page
Make a Permanent Rainbow on Photo Paper, by
Optical Illusions, by Weather Wiz Kids
Blue Sky Experiment, by Weather Wiz Kids

What a World!

2011-04-09T07:51:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I haven't been posting much in the last couple of weeks - life has certainly taken a few twists and turns! First we had the International Fair to finish our projects for - they came out fantastic! (but it was a TON of work on all our parts) Then our computer died - The TouchSmart sucks, we only had it 18 mos!!! (Now it will cost almost $400 to fix!) Then just when we were gonna send the computer to HP to be repaired my DH was laid off, which means we're both unemployed....so both of us are looking into doing school (I would have a certification course, he would have a 2 year program, grrr) but that's really hard financially when we were on a tight budget before! So I'm trying to turn myself into one of those obsessive-compulsive coupon clippers (where do they GET all those coupons...anyway), if we could reduce our grocery bill from about $300/month to $150 then it would be covered by our food stamps (something I never thought I would have to be on in the first place).....

Awesome new link!

2011-03-11T17:02:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited! I've finally found the perfect math site for my boys. The college kids who started the site deserve medals! The videos are short and sweet and somehow put even the most complex math concepts into terms the kids can understand. I had been using IXL.com for the last several months, but I don't like that it's mostly a type of review - like a worksheet just on the computer. THere are no lessons or real interactive information, so I was still somewhat at a loss on how to teach my oldest son - the audio learner - math concepts. He was stuck at about 3rd grade, he couldn't remember multiplication tables so we've gone back to the several times with no success. But after watching their video on Khan he went through their practice sheets like he'd been doing them for years! He just suddenly got it!!!

If your child is an audio learner like my 9 y/o you may also be banging your head against a wall. Math is all about working things out on paper (for the most part) and audio learners have close to zero attention span for paper work. BUT I found this great site that's TOTALLY FREE and has video clips explaining every aspect of math in ways kids can understand!!!

Khan Academy

Mummies, Mummies, everywhere!

2011-03-04T11:04:00.000-08:00

I have found some great projects for Xman's Egypt presentation. One of the ones we are doing today? Making mummies. We bought some WWF guys (they were bigger than GI Joe) and we'll be using an apple. Since we can't dessicated (dry out) our toys, we will simulate that step - but to get the point across of what this step did to human bodies we'll be doing it with an apple slice.

First the kids used this Interactive Website - How Mummies are Made

Apple Slice Dessication -

Cut an apple into quarters.
In a measuring cup, measure 1/3 cup of baking soda, fill the cup the rest of the way with table salt.
Mix the dry ingredients - this is very similar to Natron, the compound used by the Egyptians.
Place one apple quarter in a jar or cup
Fill the cup with the salt mixture, making sure the apple is covered completely.
In another cup place another quarter of the apple - leave it uncovered (this will show the comparison in decomposition)
Place both cups in an out of the way place for about a week.

Steps to Making a Mummy -

Delivery of the corpse for mummification
Removing the Organs. The heart remains in the mummy, the brain is destroyed and removed through a nostril, the stomach, liver, lungs and intestines were washed and placed in Natron for dessication - these preserved organs were each placed in a special jar called a Canopic Jar which is sealed with a carved top representing which organ was inside.
The body was covered in Natron for 40 days to remove all water.
The body was then washed and anointed with oils while the Priests chanted and sang blessings.
The body was stuffed with herbs, spices, linen, sawdust and salt - this helps the body have normal proportions instead of just looking like a shrunken raisin.
The head and neck were wrapped in linen
The fingers and toes were wrapped in linen
The rest of the body was wrapped in linen (all of these wrappings also included little amulets being wrapped as well.)
The linen was sealed with a resin (like tree sap)
The face of the mummy was painted with gold to represent the kings face
The mummy was then placed in 3 coffins which (after the funeral) were then lowered into the sarcophagus.

So most of this was simulated by the boys -
Step 2 - we pretended to remove the organs
Step 3 - we covered our 'body' for 40 minutes (1 minute = 1 Egyptian day)
Step 7 - we had to simulate since our dolls didn't have fingers and toes.
Step 9 - We sealed our linen with a home made version of Plaster of Paris - 1 cup warm water and 2 cups flour (we made sure our mixture was a bit more watery than regular glue so our cheese cloth strips could be hardened.)

Spring Garden

2011-03-04T09:40:00.000-08:00

Ok I'm the first to admit that up until now I've had a black thumb. But that doesn't stop me from trying! I'm nothing if not adventurous!

This year we are trying to go even more green by starting container vegetable & herb gardens. We live in an apartment with little to no yard space, so planting an extensive garden is out of the question. But the boys are very excited to see something tangible come from our efforts (we hope..lol). We are also learning about making our own compost. This too is our way of going green.

Container Garden -
Prep:

Building the Window box with dad & papa - using recycled wood we have found the kids are building these things. We also make sure there are a few holes in the bottom so we don't drown the poor plants.
Decorate the boxes. We have tons of paint and sealant once the kids are done decorating we'll throw on a few layers of sealant to be sure none of the pain washes away.
Start seedlings. I know many people just plant the seeds in the boxes but I'm not the best gardener, so I'm learning along with my boys. We are starting the seedlings in the biodegradable little seedling starters in our home. We are using egg shells as our planters - the kids will be decorating them and starting the seeds with their HS group in a couple of weeks. (just click on the pic if you think you need directions)

Once the seeds have germinated and sprouted a bit, we'll transfer the whole thing (egg and all) into the window box. I have a plastic liner for the boxes that I got for like $1. Again there are several holes in the bottom of the planter and we start filling it with a layer of gravel/rocks the kids have been collecting.
I always throw a bit of grass starter over the top as well, so even while the little plants are growing or after harvest, there is something in the box.

After some research the 4 boxes we are making will have these plants (which are supposed to grow well together)

Box 1 - cucumber (space master), tomato (red Cherry), parsley & chives
Box 2 - carrots (short & sweet), lettuce (bibb) & peppers (sweet banana), Mint & Thyme
Box 3 - Greenbeans (french dwarf), Cabbage (Bok Choy), Sage &Basil
Box 4 - Cabbage (baby head) , Tomato (sweet 100), Peas (Early Patio), Rosemary

Starting your own porch compost -

Prep -

Select a plastic storage bin that has a top that locks on (this will help keep hungry critters away) - we used the 18 gallon size. NOTE - you need 2 tops although only 1 has to be able to lock on. The other goes under the container to catch the liquid that drains out, you'll need to re add it back to the compost and if you don't have any type of catch bin then it's totally wasted.
this is like the one we used.
Drill about a million holes through all the sides top and bottom. Air circulation is a major part of decomposition, so you need it to be able to flow through your container. (first i had the kids paint the container until it was all purrty and I sprayed a sealant onto it to keep the paint from washing off, it will eventually chip/fade but the kids had a great time). The holes should be about 1-2 inches apart.
I then lined the bottom of the bin with a layer of gravel, then added a small amount (like a large pail worth) of rich soil, shredded newspaper and dried leaves. (but be careful on adding too much of the paper and leaves as these will help dry the contents of the bin, and you need it to stay fairly moist)
Whenever adding scraps to the bin, be sure to chop them small, otherwise they can take quite a while to decompose (trust me, our first batch was a big moldy mess). Great things to add to your compose? - leaves, weeds, fruit and vegetable peels, egg shells, coffee grounds, tea bags, and grass clippings.
Storing your bin. I actually keep a small pail in my kitchen where I can easily add scraps throughout the day, then before bed I add them to the bin. Some suggest keeping the bin just outside your door for ease of use, but I warn you, the smell of decomposition isn't pleasant. I keep my bin under my porch so I don't have to think about such things. After I add my daily pail, I put the lid back on then give the whole bucket a few shakes to mix things up. When I add my contents I also check to make sure everything in the bin is moist, if it's dry then I add a bit of water (like watering a plant). Maybe once every couple of weeks I add the drippings back into the bin so not much added water is necessary unless you live in a really dry environment.
I use some chicken wire mesh to harvest my compost. Once you can see dark crumbly material, you are ready to harvest. Basically I get 2 large buckets. I lay the mesh over the bucket for the 'good material' and leave the other bucket for the 'not quite ready material'. Then I scoop the compost over the mesh. Everything small enough to fall into the bucket is good to use, the larger pieces go back to the compost bin to continue the process.
When I put the remaining items back into the bin to complete the process I also add a scoop or two of soil again to help the balance factor (see below).

Keep in Mind -

Think of Balancing Greens and Browns in your compost - this will balance the microbes and make compost possible. The greens will be veggie & fruit scraps, plant clippings, coffee grounds, etc. The brown are dead flowers, dry leaves, small twigs (think the stuff on the forest floor), that's why I like to add a bit of rich soil to my mix.
Adding Worms. Worms help speed up the composting process, and some can live happily in our 18 gallon drum of compost. The most common for our type of composting are Red Wigglers (you can purchase them online). Just be mindful of the temperature. Worms are happiest between 40 and 80 degrees F. If it's boiling outside then your closed bin might get very hot and kill off all your little warriors. If you use worms in your bin this is called Vermicomposting.

Wow, I did it!

2011-02-28T07:14:00.000-08:00

Ok I'm fairly excited. I finally decided to sell some of my lapbooks, workbooks, worksheets and presentations. Many mom's both here and on CafeMom encouraged me. HUGS! So I finally decided to start another blog (like I don't have enough already? LOL) that was dedicated to just that, selling great resources for our kids.

Home Educators Toolbox

I don't have every single one of my resources up yet, but I do have some. I'm currently working on...

Magic Tree House Books:
Mummies in the Morning (& Ancient Egypt)
Night of the Ninjas (& Ancient Japan)
Vacation Under the Volcano (Volcanoes and Pompeii)

Dr. Seuss Books:One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
I Can Read with my Eyes Shut

Sciences:
Simple Machines
Dinosaurs
Intro to Chemistry

Math:Mysterious Multiplication
Sly Subtraction
Dubious Division
Intro to Algebra & Geometry

Check out more soon!

This week

2011-02-25T08:53:00.000-08:00

THis week was crazy busy for us. Here's a breakdown of our educational travels:

Monday;
even though dad was home for presidents day the boys blew through their school work.
X-man :
1 hour Time4Learning,com

DJ:
Make The Grade (3) review book, 1 of each chapter (writing, math, science, social studies)
Spelling
Reading - Water Conservation

Both:
Story of the World - we started learning about Egypt - the boys worked with dad to make a display of the nile river by planting some herb seeds in a tin pan and making the river with aluminum foil.

Tuesday:
Our first day of Co-op
X-man:
Learning math with art & games - he learned about symmetry
Animal Studies

DJ:
Criminal Investigations/Forensics - he learned about recording evidence at a crime scene
US History (1900's) - he learned about the San Fransico earth quake of 1906

Both:
Jazz Dance
Pealentology - they learned a bit about evolution

Wednesday:
X-man:
1 hour Time4Learning,com

DJ:
Make The Grade (3) review book, 1 of each chapter (writing, math, science, social studies)
Spelling
Reading - Water Conservation

Both:
Story of the World - we did a bit more learning on Egypt and the two kingdoms, and how the Egyptians saw the world upside down, since the Nile river flows from South to North.

We also went to the Library where the kids made bird feeders

Thursday:
This was a fun museum day - it was Dinosaur Days at the Peabody Museum. There was a puppet show and the scientists had tables out on the floor explaining to the kids what they were studying. The kids got to do a dig for fossils (DJ got a shark tooth). We even went through the exhibit on Black Holes.

This is from their Egypt Exhibit (getting ready for Xman's History Presentation.)

Friday:
We started on our History Presentations.
Xman - made his Pyramid out of styrofoam blocks
DJ - made a sample of the Great Wall of China
DJ -
Make the grade (5) a page from each chapter
Spelling sentences
A People's History - we talked about the colonists.

Xman -
1 hour time4learning.com

Kids Love Spanish Review & Give Away

2011-02-20T06:00:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to give my readers a heads up on an interesting blog and post - this is a review of the product "Kids Love Spanish" check it out!

Some More Cool Links - USDA

2011-02-13T06:52:00.000-08:00

While I'm hard at work putting together my own educational resourse site, here's some great tools I've found!

USDA's Educational Coloring & Activity ebooks
USDA's George Washington Carver resourse pages

Cool Charts & Posters

2011-02-13T06:47:00.000-08:00

OMG -

Cool posters and charts for everything from area & volume to physical quantities!
http://thinkzone.wlonk.com/Posters/Posters.htm

Schedule-ish

2011-02-10T06:27:00.000-08:00

Recently I was asked about our daily schedule. To which I nervously laugh. I'm totally OCD and want to have a rigid schedule, my youngest (as a mini-me) would also enjoy it, but my bohemian oldest bucks at the constraints a schedule would place on him.....tough noogies. When he's older he can be as floppy in schedule as he wants, meanwhile Boot Camp Mama is in charge!

Well, I do have a further confession - I'm so not a morning person. Anything before 10am is just cruel and unusual punishment for me. (again my youngest is definitely cut from the same mold). So we don't start school until later although I start encouraging independant work as soon as the coffee maker starts percolating.

Monday / Wednesday / Friday -

6:30-8:30am cartoons
8:30-10:00am Wii
10:00-10:30 am Snack / Independant Work - DJ (oldest) read the book of the week (usually Magic Tree House coinciding with the Western Civ we're working on), X-man (younger) Hooked on Phonics cd.
10:30-11:00am Minimus CD Latin work
11:00-11:30am Western Civ
11:30-12:00pm Workbooks - Making the Grade: Everything Your ___ Grader Needs To Know (DJ - 5th grade book, Xman 2nd grade) Especially Math and Grammer, they also each have a Spelling sheet they do one page per day.
12:00-1:00 pm Lunch / Independent Work - DJ (oldest) works on the Lapbook of the week (ok usually he's still working on workbook stuff), Xman does Time4Learning
3:00 Music Lessons

Tuesday / Thursday -

6:30-8:30am cartoons
8:30-10:00am Wii
10:00-10:30 am Snack / Science Project- the boys work on it together usually
10:30-11:00am Hooked on Spanish CD
11:00-11:30am American History/Geography
11:30-12:00pm Workbooks - Making the Grade: Everything Your ___ Grader Needs To Know (DJ - 5th grade book, Xman 2nd grade) Especially Math and Grammer, they also each have a Spelling sheet they do one page per day.
12:00-1:00 pm Lunch / Independent Work - usually working on the Lapbook for their stories of the week, or else one for geography/histoty, etc.
2:00 Art/Projects (they get to play with it on their own) I usually put up a picture of a classic and teoll the children a bit about it, and they try to copy it, or else they try to pain a pic from a story we read that day, or they get to do a fun project that goes along with our histoy lesson (like making cuniform tablets or dressing like mummies when we studied Egypt)

A Young People's History of the United States

2011-02-06T15:15:00.000-08:00

I've had a lot of people ask me lately about what I use to teach history (see my previous post for my full curriculum) and I love telling people about Howard Zinn. You may have heard of his 'adult' book A People's History of the United States as it was mentioned in the movie Good Will Hunting, after watching the movie, I read the book - and was totally wow'ed! So many of my fellow homeschoolers are proud of the fact that we are trying to raise independent thinkers - those who have the intelligence and courage to not follow the status quo but can come up with non-violent, intelligent solutions to a problem. Plus, I know many homeschoolers who daily question their government. One thing I love about Howard Zinn's books are they teach you how to question your government without starting an anti-government commune in the hills. Instead, it's an honest look at the successes and mistakes our forefathers made when establishing our great nation - not to make us hate our nation, but instead to help us to not repeat the mistakes of the past. How better to help the nation we all love, then to be honest about it's histories so we can make educated decisions about it's future?

Here's an excerpt from his introduction:

"Ever since my book A People's History of the United States was published twenty-five years ago, parents and teachers have been asking me about an edition that would be attractive to youngsters. Over the years, some people have asked me: 'Do you think that your history, which is radically different than the usual histories of the United States, is suitable for young people? Won't it create disillusionment with our country? Is it right to be so critical of the government's policies? Is it right to take down the traditional heroes of the nation, like Christopher Columbus, Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt? Isn't it unpatriotic to emphasize slavery and racism, the massacres of Indians, the exploitation of working people, the ruthless expansion of the United States at the expense of the Indians and people in other countries?' I wonder why some people think it is all right for adults to hear such a radical, critical point of view, but not teenagers or sub-teenagers. Do they think that young people are not able to deal with such matters? It seems to me it is wrong to treat young readers as if they are not mature enough to look at their nation's policies honestly. Yes, it's a matter of being honest. Just as we must, as individuals, be honest about our own failures in order to correct them, it seems to me we must do the same when evaluating our national policies.
Patriotism, in my view, does not mean unquestioning acceptance of whatever the government does. To go along with whatever your government does is not characteristic of democracy. I remember in my own early education we were taught that it was a sign of a totalitarian state, of a dictatorship, when people did not question what their government did. If you live in a democratic state, it means you have the right to criticize your government's policies. The basic principles of democracy are laid out in the Declaration of Independence, which was adopted in 1776 to explain why the colonies were no longer willing to accept British rule. The Declaration makes it clear that governments are not holy, not beyond criticism, because they are artificial creations, set up by the people to protect the equal rights of everyone to 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' And when governments do not fulfill this obligation, the Declaration says that 'it is the right of the people to alter or abolish the government.' And, if it is the right of the people to 'alter or abolish' the government, then surely it is their right to criticize it.
I am not worried about disillusioning your people by pointing to the flaws in the traditional heroes. We should be able to tell the truth about people whom we have been taught to look upon as heroes, but who really don't deserve that admiration. Why should we think it heroic to do as Columbus did, arrive in this hemisphere and carry on a rampage of violence, in order to find gold? Why should we think it heroic for Andrew Jackson to drive Indians out of their land? Why should we think of Theodore Roosevelt as a hero because he fought in the Spanish-American War, driving Spain our of Cuba, but also paving the way for the United States to take control of Cuba?
Yes, we all need heroes, people to admire, to see as examples of how human beings should live. But I prefer to see Bartolome' de Las Casas as a hero, for exposing Columbus' violent behavior against the Indians he encountered in the Bahamas. I prefer to see the Cherokee Indians as heroes, for resisting their removal from the lands on which they lived. To me, it is Mark Twain who is a hero, because he denounced President Theodore Roosevelt after Roosevelt had praised an American general who had massacred hundreds of people in the Philippines. I consider Helen Keller a hero because she protested against President Woodrow Wilson's decision to send young Americans into the slaughterhouse of the First World War.
My point of view, which is critical of war, racism, and economic injustice, carries over to the situation we face in the United States today."

History

2011-02-04T18:56:00.000-08:00

One of the women in one of my groups recently asked what I was doing for history. It's a subject that I teach both boys at once even though they are 3 years apart in age. Basically we are doing both Western and American Civ.

American Civ.
For the most part we'll be using the book series - A Young People's History of the United States (Howard Zinn, the author of the book A People's History of the United States, my absolute favorite).
Some Supplements -
The Maya, Aztecs & Incas --
Mayans Aztecs and Incans Thematic Unit
Scholastic Mayas Aztecs Incas
The Ancient Maya (True Books)
-- DJ's Readers - The Corn Grows Ripe (Dorothy Rhoads) The Secret of the Andes (Ann Nolan Clark)
-- Xman, my youngest, will focus more on the coloring book A Coloring Book of the Ancient Incas Aztecs and Mayas (Bellerophon Books)
Macchu Pichu: The Story of the Amazing Incas and Their City in the Clouds (Wonders of the World Books)

The Native Americans --
The Very First Americans (Cara Ashrose)
The Elders are Watching (David Bouchard)
Between the Earth and Sky (Joseph Bruchac)

Western Civilizations:
Our Western Civ is more to DJ's liking, as it's based around his absolute favorite book series - The Magic Tree House. At their website you can even find worksheets and 'stamps for their passport'. Here's the order of the books we'll be reading:

Dinosaurs Before Dark (yup about the Dinosaurs)
Sunset of the Sabertooth
Mummies in the Morning (ancient Egypt)
Day of the Dragon King (ancient China)
Night of the Ninja's (ancient Japan)
Vacation Under the Volcano (on Pompeii)
Hour of the Olympics (Olympia, Greece & the 1st Olympics)
The Knight at Dawn (medieval England)
Viking Ships at Sunrise (about the ancient Vikings)

-- digression to Myths --

Carnival at Candlelight (Myth from Venice, Italy)
Summer of the Sea Serpent (Scottish Selkie's myth)
Christmas in Camelot (must I say more?)
Dragon of the Red Dawn (1600's Japanese myth)
Leprechaun in Late Winter (Irish myth)
Haunted Castle on All Hallows Eve (history of Halloween)

--End Digression -- Western Civ, Continued

Season of the Sandstorms (ancient Middle Eastern Bedouin Tribe)
Moonlight on the Magic Flute (18th century Europe)
Stage Fright on a Summer Night (Elizabethan England & William Shakespears)
Monday with a Mad Genius (Italian Renessance & Leonardo Da Vinci)
A Crazy Day with Cobras (India, ~1700's)
A Ghost Tale for Christmas (Victorian England & Charles Dickens)
Pirates Past Noon (the era of Pirates)
Night of the Magicians (Paris France, ~100 years ago)
Afternoon in the Amazon (South America)
Tonight on the Titanic
Lions at Lunch Time (Africa)
Tigers at Twilight (more on India)

Some will also coincide with our American Civ -

Thanksgiving on Thursday (the Pilgrims)
Revolutionary War on Wednesday
Buffalo Before Breakfast (Native Americans & The Great Plains)
Civil War on Sunday
Twisters onTuesday (Prairie, 1870's)
Ghost Town at Sundown (the American West 1880's)
Earthquake in the Early Morning (Great San Francisco earthquake)
Blizzard of the Blue Moon (the Great Depression)
A Good Night for Ghosts (New Orleans & Jazz music)
High Tide in Hawaii (Hawaii and Tsunami's)

Explorers/Animals -

Eve of the Emperor Penguin (Antartica)
Polar Bears Past Bedtime (the Artic)
Midnight on the Moon
Good Morning Gorillas (African Mountains)
Dark Day in the Deep Sea (deep sea exploration)
Doliphins at Daybreak (dolophins & sharks)

Math Progression Matrix Steps 1 thru 3

2011-02-01T09:14:00.000-08:00

NOT COMPLETE!! As many of you know I've been working on this for a couple of years. Basically, I teach my boys math & science more like the Western world and less like the American world. I've been trying to put together into words the flow of how I teach, when most of it I don't think about..lol.... So, here's what I have so far, and I'll keep adding to it as I work things out....

All parents want to ensure their children have the best educations available to them. Many believe you can nurture the mind beginning in the very young – reading to your baby helps prepare them for reading, scribbling unrecognizably helps develop the fine motor skills later needed to learn to write, etc. For many parents one aspect of both home educating and helping your child’s mind bloom terrifies: Math. Can you, growing up, remember thinking or hearing, “Why do I have to learn this stupid stuff, it’s not like I’ll ever need it.” Well, really every single day you use math – from setting your alarm clock, to planning out your chores, to balancing your checkbook. Math is the one subject that every person WILL use throughout their life. The beauty of math is that it’s a step by step process, and elements of it can be seen in the world around us. If you follow the progression then not only will your child excel at math but you’ll have little trouble in understanding it yourself. I firmly believe so many dread math today simply because of the way it was presented to them. If your child sees you’re excited and having fun, then they will too.

How do infants learn? Well if you smile at your baby enough times then they’ll mimic the motion. Mimicking becomes prevalent at around the 6-12 month mark. So if you’re repeating concepts, like math, then your baby will repeat you. This is how babies learn Sign Language at such young ages, they’re just mimicking motions they’ve seen repeatedly. Between 6-12 months a baby will begin to associate motion/sound to action. If you say cookie, show a baby a cookie, say cookie, then give them the cookie, every time they have snack-time, then eventually they’ll associate the word/sound ‘cookie’ with getting a yummy treat. This is the basis for teaching any pre-preschooler. Repetition and Consistency are the bread and butter of early education – and they are the cornerstone of learning mathematics. The thing is – if you look at learning math by imagining an advanced logarithm the you’ll be way to intimidated to get excited about deciphering the language. Start with the everyday and work toward the arcane.

A bit about 1-to-1 Ratio – this is associating the word for a number with the symbol for the number with the group of that number. For instance, say ‘One’ Show the child the number 1 and then show them 1 cookie. BUT - and here's the first turn from American Matrix to more Western teaching, don't make a big deal about the Name of a number or it's value....for instance a German Sheppard can be called Spot, Bob, Rex, etc....but they are all German Sheppard's. This is one of the first stumbles for Americans. We get so attached to the definition - this symbol "2" means there are 1 and another 1 but we could call it X we could call it anything. The symbol for numbers is just a name, a label to make early mathematics more tangible....but then when we try to move into more advanced math like Algebra, and start calling these numbers simple integers and then mix it up with variables so that we stop writing 1 + 1 = 2 and start writing 1 + 1 = (x + x) = 2x we get very messed up. Honestly all this equation is saying is that we will now call all groupings of 1 item by the name of x that's it...so the answer is still 2 it is saying we have 2 x's.....don't worry you're probably trying to complicate things if you get frustrated with math..lol..But this 1-to-1 Ratio of teaching the definite definition of a symbol for the integers 1, 2, 3 really messes us up when later we, the teacher, are all "Ha!" fooled ya! There is no true definition we're just giving them one and we can change it anytime we want! So, just to clarify- a 1-to-1 Ratio is all about associating 2 things, the most basic way of understanding 1-to-1 Ratios is that you are showing how 2 things are equal. The integer 1 is the same thing as 1 cookie, they are equal in quantity. In more advanced math we use the 1-to-1 ration with unknown quantities....we don't know the volume of this shape but it has a 1-to-1 Ratio (or equal value) to the volume of this cup. So anything can be made to have equal quanities - 2 different equations, amounts of food, geometric shapes, etc. Now, moving along, Ratio simply shows how something relates to something else. If you look at the design '1-to-1' the same number resides on both sides of the -to-. This shows it is equal (so technically you could use 4-to-4 because if you have 4 of this and it equals 4 of that then they are exactly equal.) But you could have un-even Ratios to show how much larger or smaller something is when compared to something else....ie. a 1-to-2 Ratio shows you have 1 of this and 2 of that to show that the first something is larger because it takes double the quantity of the second to be equal to the first...see? (Think of it for a while)

It is also important to remember that every child is different. Some children will ‘get it’ much younger than others. This is fine! There is no competition, as long as kids learn it eventually, then no problem. But you should focus – in my opinion – on mastering one skill before attempting the next in the matrix. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself bouncing back and forth confusing both yourself and your child. So, instead of listing ages for the matrix I’ve listed steps. It doesn’t matter at what age one masters the concept, like I stated, some children might be ready to master step 1 as toddlers – others might be in elementary grades. Don’t stress about fitting into a preconceived box, let your child move comfortably from one step to the next.

Don’t push too hard! I think one of the hardest things about teaching is knowing when to push and when to let it lay. My personal theory is to push a topic for several days, if they don’t catch on the first day (are still confused) then try a different approach the second day. If after several days – thus several different approaches – the child is still lost, let it go for a month, then come back. There are several different points to make in each step so you can move to a different idea within the step and come back to the confusing ones later before moving onto the next step. You can also reward the child – make a production – out of moving onto the next step, this is especially true for homeschoolers who don’t have that feedback at moving to a new class when finished with another.

Stages of each Step
Number Sense - this is working with basic numbers -integers, fractions, and decimals. The whole point of this stage is to understand that 1-to-1 Ratio of what each symbol means.
Algebra - is working with variables. All addition/subtraction, multiplication, etc falls under the umbrella of Algebra.
Geometry - working with shapes, and their coordinates in space.
Trigonometry - In this case we're focusing mostly on Triangles and Circle Trig, basically trigonometry is the study of these two shapes - their angles, sides, etc. {so the difference between Geometry and Trigonometry? Geometry is the study of how shapes relate to the environment, how they fit into a situation, whereas Trig focus' within the shape...in other words Geometry is an open set working - infinite, whereas Trig is a closed set}
Statistics & Probability- this is the study of the likelihood of an occurrence/recurrence of an event
Calculus - This is another open set type of math. Honestly we're dealing with a lot of infinities in life (a line goes on forever after all) Calculus works to take a piece of the infinite and use it to find solutions. For instance calculus works with the slope of a hill, the rate of change (like speed), working with volume by parallel cross-sections (like taking core ice info out of the glaciers), etc....so Calc very much marries Math and Science - especially Physics, Geology and Chemistry.
Economics - the dealings with money and the economy, arguably the most used form of mathematics in adults.
Critical Thinking - I like to think of this as thinking outside of the box - outside of that ratio. It's allowing the child to come up with as many or varied solutions to a problem. Even though there may be one right answer, in math there are hundreds of means of achieving that answer.

Step 1:

Number Sense-

Learning to count - start small and work your way up. Use manipulative tools like snacks, shoes, flash cards, number line, etc. At first it’s ok to not be able to say numbers from 1 - 100 (they’ll often skip or reverse numbers) it’s much easier to have an actual item to count. “How many Cheerio are in your cup? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5? 5 Cheerio’s!” This is almost always the first step on the road to mastering mathematics. For this step to be mastered a child should be able to count to 25.
Same & Different - as relates to ‘how many’ this teaches grouping. “Is this your hand? No, it’s your Tummy!” I know when my kids were as young as toddlers I would have them help me with things like laundry or putting away groceries. That’s an excellent start in determining what fits into a pre-defined grouping. Child’s socks-with-child’s socks, mommy’s pants go with mommy’s cloths….soup cans go on one shelf whereas rice goes on another. Believe it or not this is an exceedingly important tool to learning mathematics. Basically you are learning what defines a group – it’s parameters – then you are learning to recognize if something fits into a group. In this step you are using very broad and obvious groups. Food, clothes, body parts, toys. Start talking about these things with your infant early, then have your toddler help you group them together.
Irregular Measurements Length and Width- how many left feet does it take to measure the width of the room? If we laid pencils end to end how many would it take? Find fun things to measure length and width.

Step 2:

Number Sense –

Counting Integers– continue building on your child’s counting skills. This point will encompass the entire time you are in step 2 – meaning, even while working on the other points, you should be also working on counting. This step is mastered when the child can count to 50. We are not looking for perfection, but the understanding that the 30’s come after the 20’s etc. (definition: integer is any whole number - it can be positive or negative but no fractions or decimals here!)
Reverse Counting Integers - help your child learn to count backward from 10 and 20.
Writing Integers – this is probably one of the more tricky stages in Step 2 – if only because writing is dependant on fine motor control, which may not be equal to cognitive abilities. Start off with tracing. Don’t worry about them being able to remember what the number 2 looks like in this stage. It’s the motor memory we’re working on.
Number line = Real Numbers – long before using a calculator or computer a child’s mathematical best friend is the number line. Once the start working on equations the number line gives them the answer! Have your child verbalize filling out the line with you doing the writing, have them trace the numbers to fill out the line, have them find you the number 6, etc. [definition: Real Number - any number, integer, fraction, etc that is found on a number line. If it has a spot on the line then it's a real number]
Skip Counting By 2's & 5's - count to 20 by 2's and 50 by 5's. FOr thise Step we're just exposing the child to the idea of skip counting, like a set. The set includes {5, 10, 15, etc} in Step 3 we become familiar with different methods of finding the solution to what comes next in skip counting.

Algebra -

Variables & Sets - I love to introduce Algebraic language with a simple set of playing cards. Each of us write on a piece of paper the name of our variable - "t", "a" "z" whatever...this is also nice for reinforcing the alphabet that the child is learning at the same time...then each of us selects a card from the deck. That is what our variable is worth. Now we each try to pick up the matching card from a new deck - the one that matches first gets a pass on chores for the day! definition - a variable is just a symbol used to identify a quantity that changes....for instance if I were writing about the temperature in my area I might want to do a form of shorthand by calling it "w" as I live in the North East and the weather is ever changing. So a variable can be a number that is always changing or one that you just don't know the quantity of as of yet. A set is a series of numbers separated by a comma - 1,2,3 or 23,78,92.
Early Addition & Subtraction - if you have an apple and I have an apple, how many apples are there? Addition is easiest taught through manipulative tools like physical objects, number lines, etc. While the student will not master this concept at this stage, they should have an understanding of what addition & subtraction does. Use the correct vocabulary – addition, subtraction, sum, difference, solution. This step is all about either using manipulative tools or using a worksheet with clear picture graphs to demonstrate the equation – not using numbers for the equation or resulting answer.
Extending Patterns of Sets- using a variety of pictographs or materials have a child continue the pattern. They should also be encouraged to create patterns within a set. (ie. when using toy cars they can create a set of red cars then the pattern can be 2-door, 4-door...etc)

Geometry –

Basic Shapes - circle is round, square has 4 angles and it’s sides are all the same, etc.
3-D Shapes - identify, name and describe 3-d images (sphere, cube, cone adn cylinder).
Seeing Shapes – learning to recognize simple shapes by sight. Triangle, square, circle, star, diamond. I really like to do this during art projects, “do you notice the roof of the house looks like a triangle?” as well as while driving. I usually post a Shape of the day and the kids have a contest, putting a sticker next to their name for every time they are the first to point out that shape throughout the day. The winner at the end of the day get’s to pick the game we play that night, or what to have for dinner.
Primary Colors - red, blue and yellow, this is often done in grouping, but you can also sing about the rainbow or colors in general. I like working with a triangle. One a big sheet of art paper I make a big triangle (might as well get used to one now..lol) and have the child make a smear of paint on each corner. I then make a dot in the exact center of the triangle and have the child swoosh the primary colors toward the dot - letting them overlap and make more colors and such.
Basic Grouping - organize items by shape, quantity, color, etc. “Where’s your yellow blanket? Here it is!” Some of this also overlaps the Critical Thinking lessons – where are the Big Lego’s, where are the Small cars, etc.
Volume - Begin familiarizing the child with different ways of measureing liquids - cups, quarts, gallons, etc.

Statistics -

Basic Data Accumulation - use something the child can relate to and finds amusing; this will keep their attention over time. My kids were always fascinated with the weather. They would wake up early to watch our local weather man, and when my DH & I came stumbling in for coffee they were the first to tell us the prediction for the day. So we set up a simple blank month calendar. I found some stickers that matched weather - clouds, sun, rain, lightening, etc...and when we started school for the day the child would read the thermometer to me and I would write the temperature for each day. (also see Critical Thinking - Measurements)
Basic Graphing - I think bar graphs are the easiest to make for these youngsters. Using our month of accumulated data on weather, we would set out to see how many days were a certain temp, or type of weather. The kids love coloring each of the bars differently then looking at the colorful graphs.

Economics –

Identify Money – identify coins and bills. Which is paper money and change. Be able to tell the difference between the types of change and the types of paper money.
Worth – begin working with Pennies and $1 bills. Help the child to understand that it takes 100 pennies to equal $1.
Saving vs. Spending – take the child to the store and show them how each item costs a different amount (we tied in social studies on how items got to the store). Make a big sign for savings. Help the child to see their money building as they put money into their account – even if it’s only pennies.

Critical Thinking -

Directions/Opposites - over/under, side-side, top/bottom, full/empty, in/out, etc.
Sizes - small, medium, big, bigger, biggest
Measurement Weight & Temperature – we’ve already been practicing reading a thermometer for the graphing and data parts of this step, now we also learn to read a ruler and scale
Time – learning the days of the week and months of the year. Become familiar with the passage of time with vocabulary like before, after, soon. My kids would change our daily board to say the day and date each morning (we have a Velcro board). While the student won’t master telling time at this level, they should begin to understand that time moves in increments - seconds-to-minutes-to-hours, days-to-weeks-to-months-to-years.
Ruler Measurement of distance - getting comfortable with American measurements (inches, feet,etc)

Step 3:

Number Sense –

Counting – continue building on your child’s counting skills, a continuation from step 2. Again this step will encompass Step 3. This step is mastered when the child can comfortably count to 100, in order.
Number Line Skip Counting – continue using the number line. Skip counting is a predominant part of step 3 as it’s the easiest way to deal with answering equations later on. So, you’ll notice there are several different ways of skip counting in Step 3, all of which need to be mastered before step 4. In number line skip counting first show the child how to skip by 2’s by scribbling out every other number. In this step focus on counting by 2’s to 40, 5’s to 50 and 10’s to 100.
Skip Counting Grouping – by grouping things like toys by number (groups of 2 cars each, for example) your child can count, this also helps remind them of the addition for the next stage of Step 3.
100 Unit Cards - this is the first start in understanding place value. I basically took some sheets of foam paper and marked 1 sheet with 100 squares or units. I cut another sheet into Vertical rectangles and marked it with 10 squares, and the final sheet I cut into 100 little squares. These were used to demonstrate how a number breaks down. Although for this stage we just used integers below 50, so no 100 blocks as of yet (those are used in Step 4). Then I would write a number and my son would get the right amounts of units - 10's and 1's - to show the number, or he would give me the 10's and 1's and I would have to figure out the number he wants. For instance, for the number 48 he would show 4 10-units and 8-single units.
Even Odd - determine whether a number is odd or even by pairing pictographs or objects - if all the objects have a partner and there are none left over then it is an even number.

Algebra -

Addition & Subtraction to 50 – start with the pictographs and move up to numbers.
Writing Integers– to master this step your child should be comfortable writing to 50.
Ordinal-Cardinal Relationships - This is learning about places – who’s in first, second, third, etc. Have fun with it. Play Simon Says, etc.
Number-Numeral Relationships – understanding number order and the symbol we give it….so you can rename a group of 2 items A. This is a great way to start the concepts of Algebra.
Sequences - this is also an important foundation. I taught it through stories, first a happens then b, etc. Without this the student could become lost when deciphering word problems.
Commutative Property - For addition demonstrate no matter the order the answer is the same - 1 + 2 = 2 + 1, be sure to write it in this fashion not just looking at 1 + 2 = 3 and 2 + 1 = 3 show them that it's ok to have another equation as the solution, it's not wrong. This is the first step toward true Algebraic equations where many times there is an equation as a solution, and it's helping them learn to show their work - their thought process.
Greater/Less Than - Equal To - help child determine if an integer is greater/less/equal to another integer, or if a set is greater/less/equal to another set.
Inverse Relation - use the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction to check your solutions....if 7 + 6 = 13 then 13 - 7 = 6 and 13 - 6 = 7.
Find the Unknown Variable - (once they have been reasonably exposed to Inverse Relations) use simple equations for addition and subtraction to find the value of x or y or z or whatever letter you choose. (ie. 5 + __x_ = 8, to solve you subtract 5 from both sides to get 8-5 = 3 therefore x = 3)

Geometry –

More on Shapes – look into what makes each shape – the number of corners, the number of lines. Are the lines straight or curved, etc.
Symmetry - You can fold many shapes in half and they will be identical on each side.
Shapes Working Together – this is a fun part of step 3 – where many shapes come together to make a different shape. For instance, two triangles can come together to make a square.
The Face - help the child to recognize that a 2-D image is the face (or one plane) of a 3-D image.
Additional Geometric Shapes – Yup, I suggest learning the more complex shapes this early – pentagon, octagonal, etc. You’re just learning to count the sides/angles and what it’s called.
Secondary Colors - we did a lapbook on Rainbows (which you can find on my YouTube site) where we learned to mix primary colors to make secondary ones, and we learned about prisms.
Fractions 1/2, 1/3 and 1/4 - expose your child to separating a whole item into equal parts, then writing that part in its fraction.

Trigonometry -

Is it a Polygon? - become comfortable with the definition of a polygon. Polygon: any 2 dimentional closed shape made up of 3 or more lines connected end to end....so it must have 3 or more straight lines, as well as an equal number of joints or angles.
Begining work with a Circle - taking any size circle the child should draw 2 perpendicular lines through it. The point where those lines intersect is the Center Point. Each of those lines is also considered the Diameter (or width of the circle). From the centerline to the edge is the Radius. Children should become comfortable labeling a circle and should be exposed to measureing each of these important factors.
Congruent? - This is easiest working with a triangle, but work toward using many different polygons. If the length of the sides are all the same then the triangle is congruent. Basically it's a fancy word for saying these two items are exactly the same shape and size.

Statistics -

Estimation - guest mating, and learning how to estimate in the most basic sense. I have a bag of gumballs, how many do you think I have?
More Basic Graphing - Moving onto the Pie Chart Graph. Again we used things like their Matchbox Cars and graphed them by their colors and such.

Economics -

Using a Register - In Step 2 we used a big poster board (like charities often do) to measure the growth of our savings. In Step 3 we move onto using a simple register - just like balancing your checkbook (but with less entries..lol).
Worth - Nickel, Dime, $5 and $10. Become comfortable using these forms of money and their worth.

Critical Thinking –

More/Less - this is terribly important to learning addition/subtraction
Time Measurement - compare units of time seconds/minutes/hours or days/weeks/months/years. As well as begin to read the analog clock to 5 minute interval (skip counting by 5!). Work with time elapsed problems - to further compare passage of time.
Digital Time – reading a digital clock.
Measurement Relationships - this is also a fun project for kids - learning how inches make a foot and a foot makes a yard, as well as cups are in a quart and quarts are in a gallon. My kids mostly loved it because they could make a mess by scooping up various things.

You just can't beat it!! Time4Learning

2011-01-31T14:53:00.000-08:00

When I first started homeschooling I was just the same as any other neophite HS mom - I was terrified of messing up my kids for life! LOL. So to ease my fears I found a site Time4Learning.com. It's a fantastic resource - going through all the subjects for Pre-K and beyond. For those who are worried about teaching math or science - no prob, this program does it for you! It's absolutely amazing. Not only does it cover all the subjects, but they are presented much like a cartoon or video game (something my boys can master in minutes - vs. the frustration of workbooks). The bottom line is that Time4Learning is WELL Worth the $20/month they charge. My kids literally start begging to do their school work each day - somethign I never did as a child growing up in the 'normal' school system.....but I also think Time4Learning would be a good resource to those with kids in public school. Any kind of extra effort- that is educational but really fun - is worth all the pennies it may cost. ENJOY!!

Time4Learning has given me the opportunity to review their program and share my experiences. Time4Learning is an online educational program that can be used as a homeschool curriculum or for afterschool enrichment. While I was compensated, the content in this review was not written by Time4Learning. The opinion is entirely my own.

Terrible Blogger

2011-01-18T08:41:00.000-08:00

What a horrible and ignorant woman - who spouts about feminism seeming to forget the main point of the feminist movement was CHOICE. http://clarissasbox.blogspot.com/2011/01/homeschooling-as-form-of-child-abuse.html Now not only does she stop on feminists who choose to make a happy home, she also thinks we are messing up our kids (not to mention cultist religious freaks) for choosing to homeschool them! Ummmmmm, in response to her blog I ask one question......Where would feminism be if a group of people didn't stand up to the establishment and shout their right not to fill the preconceived hole made for them in society? Well that's what I'm teaching my soon to be socially inept little boys....if by socially inept she means leaders and free thinkers...then you betcha!

Unit Study Links

2011-01-07T08:53:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the resources I use for Unit Studies...these are mostly literature based (as that's when I tend to do a Unit mixed with a Lap Book).

Weather Blues Box

2011-01-07T08:06:00.000-08:00

What do you do on Snow Days? The local schools are letting out early, so my BFF called to see if I wanted to get out kids together...and I explained that we don't usually take snow days!

Sometimes, if it's been bad weather for several days in a row - preventing the kids from burning off energy outside (as my oldest is a severe asthmatic) I'll put together fun weather related projects. In fact I have a small plastic bin (about the size of a shoe box) that I keep my fun weather junk in..lol...

Kit Supplies:

a couple of plastic 1 liter bottles (with tops)
cotton balls
cotton swabs
safety goggles
matches
canning jars
food coloring
old DVD's

Projects we like:
NOTE: I suggest a parent ALWAYS be present for experiments - you never know what can go wrong!!

Cloud in a Bottle:
a cloud is made out of 3 things in the atmosphere - water, dust particles and atmospheric changes.

Rinse bottle thoroughly - do not use soap, and do not dry the inside of the bottle.
Add a very small (like 1/8 teaspoon) of very warm water to your bottle.
Put the cap on the bottle and shake well.
Pour out excess water.
Have adult light a match and carefully drop the lit match into the bottle. -- The smoke from the match adds the key ingredient DUST.
Immediately replace the cap so none of the smoke is lost.
Gentle shake the bottle back and forth 2-3 times- stirring up the second ingredient WATER
Make sure the cap is very secure. Squeeze the middle of the bottle with both hands, then release your hands evenly & quickly - this is stirring up the final ingredient in cloud formation ATMOSPHERE CHANGES
You should see the cloud form after 2 - 3 squeezes. It is better to do this in front of a dark background (like dark curtains) as the cloud will show up better. If you still cant see anything, then I suggest going back to the match step (as you probably let too much smoke escape before getting the cap on).

Weather Front in a jar:
all poor weather comes in the form of a weather front. Generally speaking one side of the front will have absolutely gorgeous weather and the other will have absolutely horrible weather. This occurs in a clear line of demarkation. High and low pressures do not mix - they may swirl around eachother (thus causing a tornado) but they don't mix.

Warm Front diagram - http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/7r.html
Cold Front diagram -http://www.kidsgeo.com/geography-for-kids/0128-cold-fronts.php

Fill 1 cup measuring cup with very warm tap water.
Add a couple of drops of red food coloring. Make it so you can see the color but not so dark that it is almost black.
Fill second measuring cup with very cool water from the tap.
Add a couple of drops of blue food coloring.
Gently stirr each mix to evenly spread the color.
You need 2 jars with EXACTLY the same size neck. (If there are any cracks or crevices that don't line up you'll have a huge mess).
Fill one jar to almost overflowing with the cold water, and the other to almost over-flowing with the hot. (be sure the glass isn't too hot to touch).
Place an index card over the top of the top of the hot water jar. Push the edges down, cupping your hand around the neck.
Carefully turn the jar over (with your hand still holding the top in place at the neck) - some water leakage is totally normal.
Carefully stack the hot water jar over the cold. The paper acting as a boundery.
Carefully pull the paper out from between the jars without sliding the jars.
I like to use a little Scotch Clear tape around the joint of the jars. It won't stop all leakage but will help.
Very Carefully, lift both jars, pressing them together at the neck. Turn the jars on the side and see what occurs!

Tornado in a Jar:
Once you have a clear understanding of how the cold air slides against the warm, you can get a better understanding of tornados. Essentially you have to have several phenomena to have a tornado - wind at 2 different atmospheric levels blowing at different speeds and in different directions (creating wind sheer). Extreme variations in temperature at 2 different atmospheric levels (the ground level is Very hot and humid, while up in the atmosphere is Very cold). The cold air goes to lower, the hot air attempts to rise and the wind creates a rotation - a tornado will usually only touch the ground if full of either rain or hail (making the spinning cloud heavy)

Take 2 2-liter soda bottle.
Fill one bottle (about 3/4 full) with water and a few drops of food coloring. Add a small sprinkle of glittler.
Place the empty bottle over the full one, so the neck of the bottles lines up.
Use duct tape to secure the necks.
Quickly turn the bottles over and give them a little twist. you should see the twister form.

Make Rain -
I did this one with my boys when they were young to understand where rain came from and the water cycle. Again an adult needs to be the one doing the experiment with the kids watching. The water cycle is so important to us - it is what allows for life!

The water cycle - http://www.kidzone.ws/WATER/

Much to my husbands confusion, I always keep a small hard cover book in the freezer just for this experiment. But if you don't want to do that, I suggest a minimum of 6 hours in the freezer - and it must be a hard cover.
Boil water on the stove - you can see evaporation in motion with the steam!
Very carefully hold the book at an angle in the steam - this will condense the water vapor back into droplets of water and it will look like the book is making rain!

Blue Skies!
This is another really fun one - especially just before bed. Although I warn you it's a messy one! Essentially, this is demonstrating how our eyes interpret the color of the sky. The white light coming off of the sun enters out atmosphere where the particles break that light into all the colors of the rainbow. Blue being one of the most slow and is absorbed by gases in the atmosphere and radiates!
http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/sky_blue.html

Set a flashlight standing upright right in front of you, so the beam is clear and rises.
Gently take a bag of flour (even better with a flour sifter) and gently allow the particles to blow through the beam - you should see flashes of colors/light!

Weather Sayings:

Red sky at morning sailor take warning, red sky at night sailor's delight.
Red sy at night shepherds delight. Red sky in morning shepherds take warning.
Never cast a clout till May is out. (Captain Urchy)
If cows are sitting down then rain is on the way.
Gullywasher (a lot of rain by bcluv)
When the stars begin to huddle the earth will soon be a puddle. (Insomniduck)
Halo around the sun or moon rain or snow soon. (Insomniduck)
A year of snow a year of plenty. (Insomniduck)
Rainbow in the morning gives you fair warning. (Insomniduck)
Clear moon, frost soon. (Insomniduck)
Mares Tails and mackerel scales make tall ships take in their sails. (Insomnduck)
It's raining cats and dogs.
http://hobbyscience.com/weather.html

Arts & Crafts

http://familyfun.go.com/winter/winter-crafts/snowflake-crafts/let-it-snow-t-shirt-674877/ Let it snow tee shirts (my kids favorites!)
Wind Socks Need: 1 6 oz. foam cup for each child, Sharpened pencil, crepe paper streamers ( 6 colors), glue, yarn. Directions: Use a sharp pencil and poke six holes in the bottom of the cup. Space holes evenly about 1/4" from the sides of the cup. Cut 6 18in crepe paper streamers for each child. Roll the end of the paper and stick in hole on cup. On inside of cup, add a drop of glue on the side of the cup and glue the paper to the side of the cup. Do all 6 and glue. Poke a hole on each side of the cup- this will be the handle part- add yarn to make the handle. Have the children decorate the outside of the cup with extra pieces of Crete paper. We took ours to the playground and hung then on the fence. Its was so colorful and pretty!
http://www.first-school.ws/theme/climate.htm
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/weather.shtml
http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/weather/index.htm

Old Fashioned Education

2010-12-25T15:47:00.001-08:00

Even though this website is Christian, I found it to be a wonderfully well rounded curriculum...and it's my favorite F word... FREE!

http://www.oldfashionededucation.com/index.html

In with the new...

2010-12-25T15:45:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm finally, finally FINALLY, finished with my EMT training. It seemed like it took forever! Our homeschooling was pretty much put on hold for the last 4 months - we would do school like once a week, or a few worksheets here or there....but with my having to focus so totally on the training, plus work, it was just too much......so starting Monday we're starting the 'year' over again. The kids have been 2 to 3 grades ahead of their peers anyway, so no biggie.

The boys are excited to start school again - mainly because Santa brought them cool electronics that will make HS even more fun then normal! DJ got a Nintendo DS - for which I made sure we got a Spelling and a Geography game. Xman got both an VTech EReader and a Leapster Explorer. So the EReader (and let me say how wrong it is that he has an e-reader when I haven't gotten a Kindle yet!!) will help make him more comfortable with reading aloud - as he gets shy in front of anyone other than I. The Leapster Explorer I made sure to get a spelling and another geography so both kids can utilize their 'toys' for the same subjects. Although the Explorer is pretty awesome as you can get these great educational downloads (as you can hook the Explorer up to your computer) so even the most 'non' educational seeming game is really educational...if that makes sense..lol! For instance, he got a Ben 10 game from his Grandma....I thought it was just a silly game but then he was playing it today and came to interrupt me telling me "DNA comes in chromosome pairs!" (Not bad for a 6 y/o!) Then later he came and told me that the Sahara was the hottest desert in the world! LOL. So, I highly recommend the Explorer.

Now we can get back on track. The kids know that they'll have twice the work at first to get caught up on our curriculum, but they are still excited. We'll see how long that lasts!

The Real 1st Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T15:41:00.000-08:00

One of my HS mom's pointed me toward this great link. Let your child become the historian - pulling together historical facts in order to compile an accurate idea of the 1st Thanksgiving

Plymouth.Org

Contraction Practice

2010-11-24T13:03:00.000-08:00

One of my mom's asked me for some links or games to help her child practice doing contractions. Here are some fun ones I've come up with!

Contraction Pages
Contraction Quiz
Treasure Trove
Teacher Ideas
Working with Contractions
K - 2 Contraction Games
Fly By Contractions
Contraction Concentration Game
Spelling City

New Foreign Language Resource

2010-11-22T12:52:00.000-08:00

OMG -- you know how I'm always searching for resources, well another HS mama just pointed me in the direction of this great webpage!

Know It All

New Site

2010-11-20T05:06:00.000-08:00

Alright, if you have an older child and want some online courses for History, Religion, American Government, Psychology, Science (physics, environmental sciences & biology), and Math (algebra, calculus & statistics) - then you HAVE to Check out -

www.hippocampus.org

Creatiity

2010-11-08T07:18:00.000-08:00

I have to say one of the most common things I hear from new or perspective HS mom's is, "But I'm not really creative!"I love setting a pile of junk on the floor in front of the kids and telling them to go to town creating whatever strikes their fancy. Here's a site that helps kids with creating automobiles!!

East Toy Car Making Crafts for Kids

Kids Know It

2010-11-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

Check out this great site another HS mom told me about - thousands of free educational games and matl's

kidsknowit

Mini-Book Master Template

2010-10-27T07:06:00.000-07:00

OMG!! Those of you who love lapbooks and Mini-books as much as I do would LOVE this. Enjoy this 12 page download!

Mini-Book Master Template

Medieval Times - Unit Study

2010-10-26T06:53:00.000-07:00

Here's some of my resources on Medieval Times:

We'll be doing about a month on medieval times and it will come together as we watch 'How To Train Your Dragon' and 'The Sword in the Stone'

Vid Clips

You know how much I love ZuiTube now, I think doing a day on Legends & Folktales is important, and of course no medieval study would be complete without Castles, King Arthur, and Knights or Overall Medieval History
more medieval history

Units & Printable's

http://www.tooter4kids.com/MedievalTimes/steps_of_knighthood.htm
http://abcteach.com/directory/basics/social_studies/history/
http://www.yourchildlearns.com/castle.htm (Build an online Medieval Castle)
http://www.funsocialstudies.learninghaven.com/links/medieval_history.html
http://www.learninghaven.com/articles/medieval-history.html
http://happyhomeschool.familyclassroom.net/Archives/History/KingQueens.shtml
http://homeschooling.families.com/blog/a-unit-study-starter-on-castles-and-medieval-life
http://www.easyfunschool.com/ (with a unit on How To Train Your Dragon)
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1533305/free_printable_medieval_activities.html?cat=37
http://freeprintableactivities.blogspot.com/2009/03/free-printable-medieval-castle.html
http://partysupplieshut.com/medieval/medieval-history.htm http://partysupplieshut.com/medieval/medieval-party-games.htm
http://www.printactivities.com/Theme-Printables/Medieval-Printables.shtml
http://cybersleuth-kids.com/sleuth/History/Medieval/Medieval_Knights/
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/middle-ages/printable/50546.html

National ___ Month

2010-10-21T10:34:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered about the weird little holidays each month? Or about which month observes which thing? I know I love having this info for our HS as it's FUN! (It was national doughnut day the other day!!). Here are some lists that might be of help:

National Awareness Months

Monthly Holidays (with great educational links)

Crazy Complete list of US Holidays, Observances and Celebrations

Furthermore, I like comparing the holidays in our country/religion to those around the world.

Earth Calendar

InterFaith Calendar

New Sites & Interesting Article!

2010-10-19T06:50:00.000-07:00

Anyone learning about History (or the future for that matter) should check out Owl & Mouse's Build A Town website - Very cool indeed!

Ever want something truly inspirational for the kids to do on a rainy day? Ever looking for something the kids can do while you feed the baby/make dinner/fold the laundry? Then this is the treasure trove of ideas for you - Think! - Encouraging kids to think outside of the box!

Further, one of the mom's in my Cafemom HS group brought this article to my attention - We Don't Believe in Socialization - it's a witty and honest look at the misconceptions of socialization for PS & HS.

Astronomy Vids

2010-10-18T16:31:00.000-07:00

Well, you know my favorite new site is the ZuiKids (YouTube For Kids) so I'm just categorizing some of my fav's we're using for school -

ASTRONOMY/ SCIENCE:
The Sun Is Hot
The Real Perspective of the Solar System (earth's size in comparison to other planets)
Did You Know?....

DISCOVERY KIDS

MATH:
Metric & Standard Measurement

HISTORY:
Social Studies
Mythology

READING / Words Helper

Little Genius

GRADES -

Homework Helper 1
Homework Helper 2
Homework Helper 3
Homework Helper 4
Homework Helper 5
Homework Helper 6

OMG I can't wait to join!!

2010-10-18T07:29:00.000-07:00

I found this fantastic program for New England'ers - where there is precious little for homeschoolers - that gives discounts for all the museums, classes ,etc....and it's only $75/year!! I'm soooo joining!

The Family Resource Center

Cool New Site

2010-10-11T08:38:00.000-07:00

As many of you know i use lots of lapbooks with my boys. But I also like to watch childrens videos for things like History topics. Let's face it, describing something like the Romans isn't as clear as watching it. But, on YouTube you're way more likely to find a History Channel clip (waaay to boring for my 8 & 6 y/o's) or a joke than something pertinant. So, this morning I was searching for clips on Christopher Columbus (as PS holidays just mean EXTRA work for us HS'ers..lol) and came across a YouTube-like site specifically for kids!!!! So I just had to share it with you all!!

ZuiTube - videos for kids

Some New Record Keepin Resources

2010-10-07T05:13:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to keep better records of what we achieve, menus and finances. Here are some great free links -

http://highland.hitcho.com.au/Forms.htm - over 800 free form downloads!!

http://www.printablehomeschool.com/ - with a name like 'printable homeschool' it says it all!

Happy Autumn

2010-09-23T05:13:00.000-07:00

Well, we're in full swing of our main curriculum - we tend to lighten up during the summer though we do technically school year round. I absolutely LOVE the change of seasons, and try to make school extra special on those days. Today is the first day of Autumn - therefore we'll be learning all about the season, what causes the change in seasons (here in the North East especially), what causes the leaves to change color, etc. We'll be using things like apples and corn in our lessons and we'll make some leaf decorations for the house and make some home-made candles to put in our emergency preparedness kit for the coming winter.

Some of the great resources we'll be using:

Worksheets & Resources:
http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/fall/
Johnny Appleseed Lapbook - http://www.homeschoolshare.com/johnny_appleseed.php
My favorite kid's Pagan Ezine - http://www.pookapages.com/
Why do leaves change color in the fall? - http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/leaves.html
Corn fun & lessons - http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson324.shtml

Free Printable Master List

2010-07-11T18:19:00.000-07:00

Ok, I've recieved many requests for a list of where I go to get free printables as it's a major cornerstone of my HS with the boys. Here's the main list!

http://www.tlsbooks.com/
http://www.theteacherscafe.com/
http://www.abcteach.com/
http://www.studyshack.com/
http://www.teach-nology.com/
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/
http://www.firstschoolyears.com/
http://www.edplace.com/
http://www.homeschooling.about.com/
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/
http://bogglesworldesl.com/
http://www.instructorweb.com/
http://www.softschools.com/
http://www.kiddyhouse.com/
http://www.multiplication.com/
http://www.freeprintable.com/
http://www.ezschool.com/index.html
http://www.free-phonics-worksheets.com/html/free_phonics_worksheets.html
http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/
http://www.sssoftware.com/freeworksheets/
http://www.myschoolhouse.com/courses/Sample.htm
http://www.mathfactcafe.com/
http://www.englishbanana.com/downloads.html
http://www.schoolexpress.com/fws/cat.php?id=2252
http://www.rhlschool.com/reading.htm
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/school/index.shtml
http://math-and-reading-help-for-kids.org/elementary_algebra_worksheets.html
http://www.homeschoolingadventures.com/worksheets.html
http://www.docstoc.com/search/free-elementary-spanish-worksheets
http://www.math-drills.com/algebra.shtml
http://www.netrover.com/~kingskid/freestuff.htm
http://www.funlessonplans.com/history_lesson_plans/free_history_worksheets.htm
http://www.tooter4kids.com/free_worksheets_and_awards.htm
http://www.sciencewithme.com/worksheetsmain.php
http://www.homeschoolmath.net/
http://printstationary.net/school/index.php
http://www.moneyinstructor.com/basics.asp
http://math-and-reading-help-for-kids.org/elementary_math_worksheets.html
http://www.helpingwithmath.com/by_subject/geometry/geo_worksheets.htm
http://www.mathsisfun.com/worksheets/index.php
http://teachers.net/classifieds/supplies/topic356/10.31.06.15.25.00.html
http://www.toolsforeducators.com/weather.php

This free site is great for online educational play - http://www.ixl.com/
Another master list - http://www.okaloosa.k12.fl.us/walker/freestuff.htm
http://home-school.lovetoknow.com/Free_Grammar_Worksheets

Easy Fun School Link

2010-07-10T15:38:00.001-07:00

http://www.easyfunschool.com/IndexLanguageArts.html

The Westward Movement - American Civ

2010-07-10T14:52:00.000-07:00

My boys will be doing some American Civ. this year and I plan on spending about a month on the Western Frontier....here's some of the resources I'll be using...

Oregon/Santa Fe Trails -
http://lapbooklessons.ning.com/forum/topics/oregon-trail-lapbook
http://www.squidoo.com/pioneers_Oregontrail (this one has a lot on cowboys, Native Americans, and other Poineers as well!)

Wild West Famous Persons:
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-outlawindex.html
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-gunfighterindex-a-b.html
http://staffweb.peoriaud.k12.az.us/karlene_edwards/New%20SMHS%20Webpage/LAFOLDER/WestBiogs.htm
http://www.thewildwest.org/
http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~eg72/EDUC525/site3/wildwest.htm
http://www.lessonsnips.com/lesson/wildwest
http://www.edhelper.com/US_wildwildwest.htm
http://www.waldsfe.org/UnitStudies/cowboys.htm
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Wild-West-Poster
http://www.supershareware.com/wide-open-west-free/
http://schools.dcsdk12.org/education/components/links/links.php?sectiondetailid=12748
http://www.d11.org/doi/socialstudies/SSGrade10/West1860/Holes%20Webquest%20Wild%20West.mht

California Gold Rush -

http://www.d11.org/doi/socialstudies/SSGrade10/West1860/Holes%20Webquest%20Wild%20West.mht
http://www.historyonthenet.com/Lessons/worksheets/american_west.htm
http://ports.parks.ca.gov/pages/22922/files/worksheet-goldrushprices.pdf
http://www.eduplace.com/ss/hmss/4/unit/act3.2.html
http://www.huntington.org/Education/GoldRush/Entrance/lesson.html

Pony Express / Transcontinental Railroad -
http://www.homeschoolshare.com/billy_and_blaze.php (pony lapbook)
http://www.easyfunschool.com/article1776.html
http://cybersleuth-kids.com/sleuth/History/US_History/Westward_Expansion/Pony_Express/index.htm
http://webpages.shepherd.edu/BSIGLE01/social%20studies%20webquest.htm
http://www.lessonsnips.com/lesson/ponyexpressrailroad
http://www.xphomestation.com/xproute.html
http://www.classbrain.com/artmonument/publish/pony_express_trail_map.shtml
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/tcrr/ (trans-con railroad)
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/lesson_plans/lesson01.htm
http://www.answers.com/topic/american-history-for-kids-america-s-first-transcontinental-railroad

Trail of Tears/Native Americans -

http://www.cherokee-nc.com/index.php?page=62 (as told by the Cherokee's)
http://ngeorgia.com/history/nghisttt.html
http://www.powersource.com/cocinc/history/trail.htm
http://www.edhelper.com/ReadingComprehension_Geography_63_1.html
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/SSLAMDTrailOfTearsUnitIdeas68.htm

Overall/Extra Westward Expansion -
http://www.teacherplanet.com/resource/westwardexpansion.php
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/MDSSLAMathWestwardExpansionProjectIdeas46.htm
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/MD67.htm

Lewis & Clark -
http://smallworldathome.blogspot.com/2008/09/on-trail-with-lewis-and-clark.html
http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/lapbooks/lewis_clark.htm
http://dynamic2moms.webs.com/lewisandclark.htm
http://www.squidoo.com/lewis_clark

Lapbook Resources for 2011

2010-07-10T10:04:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the free lapbooks we'll be doing this coming year. They are in no particular order and I have them for both boys here ( Xman is 6 y/o, DJ will be 9 in a few weeks) as I post their curriculum you'll see how everything fits together. We also school year round so I plan for 52 weeks of school. Furthermore, some will be put in a 2-ring binder together as a combo book - this is how make our text books. When we do a subject they pull out the book rather than having a million file-folder lapbooks all over. There are also some info on Mini-Offices on here. ENJOY!

Squidoo, homeschool share; homeschool helper; lapbook lessons
Space Lapbook; Solar System
Mabon Lapbook - Autumn Festivals
Classical Music; M is for Melody; Mozart
Monet
Picasso
Cassat
John James Audobon; Backyard Birds
Greek Classics ; Greece
The Maya
Ancient China
Ancient Egypt; Egypt
Ancient Rome
Hands on Fractions
Tangrams
K-1 Math Review - Early Math
5th Grade Mini Office -- mini-office resource -- Language Mini-office
Composers
Ice Age - research, another research
Aesops Fables
Intro To Chemistry; Intro to Chemistry 2 ; Periodic Table
Civil War
Earthquakes
Grocery Store
Phonics, Vowels; Spelling/Phonics Rules ; Phonics "at"
Lapbook-a-person - Biography
Abe Lincoln
Geogre Washington
Ben Franklin
Betsy Ross
Presidents
Pocahontus
Character Study - Citizenship
Plague (Middle Ages)
Subtraction Facts
Viking Adventure
Volcanoes
Boston Tea Party
Parts of Speach

File Folder Games for lapbooks
Multiplication; multiplication
Space
Even/Odd
Pumpkin patch phonics ; Shamrock Phonics; Nouns/Verbs
Character File Folder Games
Fish Fractions
Rounding
Subtraction
Science & Roman Numerals
Contractions
Addition
Skip Counting
Homophones

Other Tidbits - printables, coloring pages, worksheets, etc.
Greek/Roman Myth & Heroes Coloring Pages
Egyptian Hierogryphs
Grade 5 printables; Grade 5 printables; math; printables; printables
Grade 4; Grade 4; math ; printables; printables
Grade 3; Grade 3; math; printables; printables; printables
Grade 2; Grade 2; math; printables; printables; printables
Grade 1; Grade 1; math; printables; printables; printables
History Worksheets;
English Worksheets
Music Worksheets;
Science Worksheets;
Multi-Grade Worksheets; math; Grammar K-2; Grammar 3-5; Grammar 6-8; printables

Preschool Foreign Language

2010-07-08T11:18:00.000-07:00

So one of the ways we teach the boys about different languages is by teaching them familiar things in that language - like counting and songs.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - for those who may have not noticed, the ABC song and Twinkle Twinkle have the same melody and that melody was written by Mozart!

French:

Brille, brille, petite étoile
Dis-moi, dis-moi, qui tu es
Tout en haut du firmament
Tu as l’éclat d’un diamant.
Brille, brille, petite étoile,
Dis-moi, dis-moi, qui tu es.

Spanish:

Brille, brille, estrellita
Quiero verte cintilar
En el cielo sobre el mar
Un diamante de verdad
Brilla, brilla estrellita
Quiero verte cintilar.

German:

Funkel, funkel kleiner stern
Ach wie bist du mir so fern,
Wunderschön und unbekannt,
Wie ein strahlend Diamant,
Funkel, funkel, kleiner Stern,
Ach wie bist du mir so fern.

Latin:

Mica, mica, parva stella,
Miror quaenam sis tam bella.
Super terra in caelo,
Alba gemma splendido.
Mica, mica, parva stella,
Miror quaenam sis tam bella.
Or the parody in english by Ian D. Bush writer.

Twinkle, twinkle little star
I don't wonder what you are
For the spectroscopic ken
tells me you are hydrogen

Another great resource site!

2010-06-30T12:37:00.000-07:00

You know I can't resist a great free lapbooking resource as I was looking for 4th of july minibooks and such I came across - The Homeschool Mom ....ENJOY!!

4TH of July!

2010-06-30T12:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Independance Day!! (ok I'm a few days early...lol....) We will be focusing a bit more in-depth on US Government this coming year, so while I was looking for cool things to do with the boys this weekend I found some other fantastic resources!

http://www.homeschoolforfree.net/

http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/lapbooks/pennsylvania.htm

http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=24350&it=1

http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=37985&it=1

http://www.calvarywilliamsport.com/Independence-day-coloring.html

http://homeschoolblogger.com/joyfulschool/694641/

http://homeschoolblogger.com/joyfulschool/705207/

http://stamphenge.wordpress.com/minibooks/

Another great link!

2010-06-27T13:04:00.001-07:00

This site has some great wall decorations/posters!!

http://www.catawba.k12.nc.us/c_i_resources/Summer%20Staff%20Development.htm

A Father's Love - Inspiration

2010-06-27T11:47:00.000-07:00

ok this vid has nothing to do with homeschooling, but I find it hugely inspirational for any endeavor.
Enjoy!!

Inspirational Video

WAHOO!! Free LA Workbooks!!!!

2010-06-25T11:47:00.000-07:00

One of my other HS mom's showed me a FANTASTIC site. Reading and Writing Workbooks by Scott Foresman.

Consonant Blends & Phonics

2010-06-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

We are working on consonant blends with my youngest, Xman. There are a few free lapbooks available online -

Homeschool Helper - Phonics Lapbook 1
Scribd - My Consonants Lapbook
Lapbook Lessons - Phonics Lapbooks

Games

2010-06-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

I recently was asked about educational games. For the child who doesn't enjoy books or worksheets how can you get them to learn in fun ways? There are 2 web sites I highly recommend:

Time4Learning.com, it's fantastic for the younger croud - all the lessons are set up like cartoon interactive games on the computer, and it's only like $20/month.
There is also LearningPlanet.com which is similar to time4learning and it costs $39.95/year.

Otherwise some of the great free websites I've used are as follows:

Parade Fun

2010-05-31T15:46:00.000-07:00

My kids have never walked in a parade before. Last year our Earth Scouts group didn't get it together in time, and the boys do informal Park & Rec sports instead of formal teams. But today the kids walked in the Memorial Day Parade with the Relay For Life (American Cancer Society) float.....ok the kids road the float and us Adults walked, but still. We absolutely roasted in the sun! When we began I told everyone we needed a song or chant for the children to sing and finally we came up with the relay slogan "Celebrate. Remember. And Fight Back!" Everyone clapped like crazy as we walked by, with my booming drill Sargent voice leading the charge!

Latin Lesson 1: Counting, Greetings & Intro Grammer

2010-05-09T18:22:00.000-07:00

I haven't found a Latin program I like for the boys (or one I was willing to pay a whole lot of money for) so I've begun putting together my own curriculum on the subject. (I know, you're bracing yourself for the shock! LOL) I've decided I'll share these lessons with you all. Each week we cover a lesson, we say them out loud each day and DJ writes them out 3x/week, one of those times he creates sentences with the vocab, and another he creates vocab cards (index cards with the Latin on one side and the English on the other), and finally I call out the words in English and he writes them out in Latin like a test.

Counting:

1 = Unus          6 = Sex
2 = Duo           7 = Septem
3 = Tres           8 = Octo
4 = Quattor      9 = Novem
5 = Quinque    10= Decem

**You'll notice something right off....4 of our months were rooted in Latin: September, October, November & December....a word in English that is rooted in Latin is termed: Derivative. You'll also notice the similarities between the 'romantic languages' and their basis in Latin....1 in French = Un, in Spanish = Uno...

Greetings:

Word / Phrase.............Singular............... Plural
"Hello"................,,,,,,...Salve!....................Salvete!
"How are you?"...........Quid agis?
   -- "very well"...........Satis bene!
   -- "excellent"...........Optime!
-- "very bad"...........Pessime.
"Who are you?"...........Quis es?...............Quis estis?
   -- "I am"....................sum
   -- "You are"................es........................estis
   -- "We are"...............sumus
   -- "everyone".............omnes
"What"........................Quid
**Family**
Mother........................mater
Father..........................pater
Daughter......................filia
Son.............................filius
Brother......................frater
Sister.........................soror
Friend.......................amicus
Teacher...................(m) magister (f) magistra

Grammer:

Latin Consonants
Consonant........Pronunciation................example
'c'...................soft before e,i,ae,oe..............like 'ch' in charity
'c'...................hard before other letters........like 'c' in cut
'g'...................soft before e,i,ae,oe..............like 'g' in germ
'g'..................hard before all other letters.....like 'g' in go
'gn'...........................................................like 'gn' in lasagne
'j'..............................................................like 'y' in yet
's'..................never like a z......................like 's' in sing
'sc'..........................................................like 'sh' in shoot
't'..............when followed by 'i' and a vowel....sounds like 'tsee'

**letter missing from the lating alphabet? "W"**

Latin Vowels
Vowel..........Long Sound...................example
'a'...............'ah'..............................like in father
'e'...............'eh' (ay)........................like in they
'i'................'ee'...............................like in machine
'o'..............'oh'..............................like in no
'u'..............'oo'..............................like in tool
'ae'............'ay'...............................like in they
'oe'...........'ay'...............................like in they
'au'...........'ow'.............................like in cow

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

2010-05-04T09:43:00.000-07:00

With the tragic events leading up to the large oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, I felt it was important to teach my children what is so terrible about the situation.
Oil experiments really get the point across easily to younger children. Pour a cup of oil in a small bowl and add a few drops of food coloring. Then pour colored oil into a big bowl of water. The children can place a few toys (or if you really want to proove a point use a small stuffed animal) in and see how difficult it is to get the oil off. You can also experiment with different means of getting the oil out of the water!

Here are some of the resources I've used:

Big list of resources - Earth Scouts
Oil & Pain Contamination Activity
Effects of Oil Spills on Birds
Oil, Oil Everywhere - a book on the Exxon Valdeze with worksheets and lesson plans
Fossil Fuels, Facing the Issues
Impact of Oil Spills on Our Oceans

Local Boy w/ Cancer is Turned Into A Super Hero

2010-05-03T08:14:00.000-07:00

Local%20boy%20with%20cancer%20turns%20into%20a%20superhero%20for%20a%20day

Mike The Monkey & World Geography

2010-04-30T08:39:00.000-07:00

Geography We've started a 2 year journey around the world. We made a little monkey out of felt as well as some clothing cut outs. I also made a cut out of different types of transportation (a car, bike, plane, boat).

Each month Mike the Monkey goes to a new location. First it's a continent. My youngest - who just turned 4, has to find whattype of transportation carried Mike from his last location to the new one around the globe. Then he needs to find out the climate of his new location and select the appropriate clothing.

Utilizing http://www.enchantedlearning.com/ we find worksheets and continent coloring books like
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/books/africancountries/instructions.shtmlg.com
To learn more about the location.

The next month. Mike travels to a country on that continent. We look on-line to find what type of animals live there and the climate. Then My youngest colors pages of those animals. My oldest learns more about the country - it's people, food, etc.

Another Great unit on Geography - http://www.trumbull.k12.oh.us/teachers/resources/Themes/geography.html

The above came from my Preschool Plans *found on my other webpade KickbuttHomeEducation

Older & Younger Learning Together -

--- I ended up changing this plan slightly - as I'm somewhat lazy and want the kids to learn together as much as possible..lol...so my youngest would spin the globe and select the continent/country. He would then 'pack' the luggage and 'book' the transportation. Then the two of them together would research and put together a lapbook on the country in the form of a brochure. My oldest - DJ - would find out information on the population, the language, the money, and government. My youngest - Xman - would find out about the animals, clothing, traditions and tourist sites - they would put them together in a lapbook to tempt my husband when he got home from work. It would take anywhere from a week to a month for each country depending. Sometimes we'd find out about religious practices, sometimes historical events.

Our Lapbook/Brochure answers these questions:

How long would it take to get there? And how would we do it?
What is the climate like?
Why do people travel to this area?
What would we do if we were there?
What type of money do they use, what is the difference between American money and their money?
What language do they speak? (we would usually make a pocket for small index cards with translations of easy phrases).
What do the people there look like?
If I were raised there what would my life be like?
What bodies of water are near by?
What countries are near by?
What major landmarks are found in this country?
How long has this country been there, what is it's basic history?
What is the traditional attire of the people like? (we would usually try to make costumes and take a pic of us in them)
How do their beliefs differ from my own?
What famous people/inventions/war/etc. came from there?

get creative. This is a very fun way to learn about the world!

Happy Water Day!

2010-03-22T13:29:00.000-07:00

As today is National Water Day we focused on the water cycle and water conservations!

http://www.filefolderfun.com/SubjectWeather.html
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle.html
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/mearth.html
http://lapbooklessons.ning.com/notes/Water_Cycle_Lapbook_Links
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/kids/kids_k-3.html
http://www.kidzone.ws/water/bactivity1.htm

Crazy Science Bday

2010-03-14T12:14:00.000-07:00

Awwww my baby boy is now 6 years old! Xman turned 6 this past Thursday and yesturday we had his party. He requested a Mad Science party - he had seen a flyer of a company that has an employee dress as a character and conduct funny experiments...I thought, sure, but why pay them to do it? So we researched some fun, easy experiments and made our own crazy science party.

Each child got a Science Kit goody bag:

Safety Goggles
Plastic Gloves
Ruller
Compass
Lifesaver Wintergreen Mints
Mentos
Rock Candy wooden stick & clothes pin
Lab Notebook (with each of our experiments explained in each one)
2 unblownup balloons

The Experiments:

Sparking Candy (and other electricity experiments like with balloons)
Planting Fun (learning about plants and soil)
Rock Candy (learning about sedimentary rocks)
Fantastic Foamy Fountain (we compared 6% & 3% solution hydrogen peroxide, and leared about exothermic reactions)
Color Explosion (we compared the grease breakdown strengths between Joy & Palmolive dish detergent).
Exploding Soda (we learned about gas pressure)

To see the printout for the Lab Notebooks and the descriptions/explinations of the experiments view Birthday Experiments {username: kickbutttidbits password: kickbuttmama }

{Bday Scientist!}

Lil' Scientists!

Planting Fun

Soda Explosion (it was pouring rain...so I got toally soaked! The kids stood on our awning covered porch screaming a countdown to me then cheering wildly as the soda exploded!)

Fantastic Foamy Fountain

Color Explosion

March Madness

2010-03-05T07:43:00.001-08:00

Whew, February was definately an...er....experience. I haven't really posted much - my grandfather passed away, we ended a 4 years friendship with a toxic person, I started a new job, etc....but now we're totally on track and kickin' it! We're so excited for this November. Last year we went to OH (to visit said toxic friend) but this year I'm driving the kids to Washington DC - what a learning experience it will be!!!

We led a learning team (our Earth Scouts team) a few weeks ago on - RESPECT - I thought it was appropriate. THe kids had fun writing on a big posterboard all the things that equal respect - honesty, integrity, being polite, being nice, etc.

MARCH -
This month we're learning a lot as well (with last month focusing on the Olympics).
Right now we're learning about the Iditirod and Alaska (as the race is tomorrow). Then we're moving on to a Pirate Lapbook - I've been reading Treasure Island to the boys every afternoon. The kids LOVE IT! And the love to laugh about the parallels between the old book and one of their favorite flic's - Treasure Planet. My youngest will be 6 next week (I'm totally depressed!)

Week 1 -- (ending 3/6)
Iditerod
Global Warming/Green House Gases
Alaska
Dogs

Week 2 -- (ending 3/13)
Xman's Bday - we're designing a Mad Science party, I'll post all our experiments later.
We'll be finishing our Polar Animals lapbook (from Alaska)
We'll be doing A Fish Out of Water lapbook for Xman

Week 3 -- (ending 3/21)
Spring, wonderful Spring! This week ends with the Spring Equinox - so we'll be doing some more work in our solar system
Honey Bees & Lady Bugs Lapbooks
The life of a Plant (lapbook I'm almost finished designing I'll post it when I'm done. Here's a great list of Plant Resources) And we'll be doing our Spring Lapbook

Week 4 -- (ending 3/29)

Daily Drills - Fun

2010-01-20T11:16:00.000-08:00

I got this idea from my BFF Dani. She has her kids do a daily drill sheet each day as a sort of warm-up to homeschool. Each day is a different theme (math, puzzle, reading, etc). Well I wanted to hook the kids with something fun each day - and I found a free site to do it (of course!) So I printed several books of the following, and each morning my kids grab their binder and do a sheet (or two or three). They're fun and help us transition from normal day to school day.

http://www.crazydad.com/ is a fab site filled with great vid clips and such
For his 50 books of mazes - Mazes
For his Kiduko puzzles - Kiduko
For his FAB Slitherlink (one of my fav games) - Slitherlink
For his great Karuko puzzles - Karuko

More daily fun:
Printable Mazes for Kids (themed)
Word Searches
Connect The Dots
Color By Numbers
Family Fun Printables (word searches, memory games, mazes, puzzles, etc)

New Year Mania

2010-01-07T09:06:00.000-08:00

So our plan for this month is a slight deviation from our origional curriculum - one of the beauties of making my own curriculum is making any changes I want..so there! haha. This month I'm squeezing in a few different concepts as it's going to be a busy month..Since we're jumping all around this month we have a 'weekly theme' each week that we really focus on. They are as follows:

Week 1 (1/1-1/9)
Aside from our usual math & grammar we're focusing on Martin Luther King Jr (a little early, as we don't celebrate the day until the 18th, but hey)
Printable book (payed site)
Coloring Page 1
Interactive Civil Rites Game
Great Research links for older kids
Ideas for celebrating Dr. King's B=day
"I have a dream" lesson Plan
Black History coloring pages
'Story of the man' article for older students

Week 2 (1/10-1/16)
This week we're focused on winter, weather & animals. We have some great lapbooks & units downloaded from Currclick.com so it should be FUN!
Deer Lapbook
Clouds Minibook
"Polar Bears Past Bedtime" MTH Lapbook (this is one of mine so remember username: kickbutttidbits and password: kickbuttmama)
"The Cat in the Hat Comes Back" (I should have it posted by this weekend, almost finished)
Winter words Minibook (pay site)
Lesson Plan
Popsicle Science
Snow Melt Experiment
'What do salt trucks do?' lesson plan that goes nicely with the above experiment
Winter Day coloring Page

Week 3 (1/18-1/23)
This week we transition from history to geography. We're settling and getting ready for the winter olympics - which is near and dear to my family, as my DH's grandfather won gold in the winter olympics in the 1930's.
Canada Lapbook (from Currclick.com)
Canada Worksheets
Canada Crafts
Canada Coloring Pages
Canada For Kids
Canada History
Proud Canadian Kids
Virtual Tour of Prince Edward Island
Kidzone Geography / DLTK Kids Canada Printables
Enchanted Learning printable 4 Canada
Canada Maze Worksheets from Teachnology

Week 4 (1/26-1/30)
Olympics Unit (from Currclick.com)
Great Kids Olympic crafts
Olympics crafts
Sports coloring pages
Olympics inthe classroom (resources)
Teachnology Olympics themes
Going for the gold worksheet
Print activities
ABC Teach olympic theme

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2010-01-04T10:50:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all my readers!

I'm not one for usually making New Years Resolutions (as I'm all about setting regular goals and meeting them) but I'm going to this year. I think the most important part of a goal or resolution is making sure it's realistic to your set parameters - like I would set DJ getting his PHD this year as my goal. (although miracles can happen..lol). I'm hoping to include Yoga into my daily schedule, even with the children. I only do it about once a week now, but it makes my leg (with the vascular issue) feel so much better, and I know I'm a calmer person from doing it. I also want to get the boys into a formal music class. I can only take them so far, but we have to consider the financials. I also need a new job. I'm thinking I'm not going to be able to maintain waiting for LA Fitness to get their crap together (it's been like 3 months).

So what are your goals this year?

Cool New Science Site

2010-01-04T10:49:00.001-08:00

I found this cool new science link - the kids have been watching their videos all day...lol...and wanting to try them themselves. Check it out!

http://www.sciencesplat.com

Today

2009-12-14T16:07:00.000-08:00

We had some errands to run (really rare for a Monday morning). Now that I passed my Personal Training Exam (YAY!!) I can again focus on HS...well if it wasn't like 10 days to Christmas! But since neither my DH nor I get paid until Friday there isn't much I can do on that front. During HS today I knitted the youngest cousin a Cuddle Bunny, so I did whittle the list down a little bit..lol...

While driving home from Walmart X-man felt compelled to sing carols. Deck the Halls, Jingle Bells and Roudolf. He had 80% of the words wrong, so I worked on them with him. It was really cute.

For school today we learned about the job of an illustrator. I read the stories The Frog Prince and The Peach Boy (a Japanese Folk Tale). Then the kids drew an illustration that represented the story. The Peach Boy was supposed to by for DJ while the Frog Prince was for Xman but they didn't agree and each drew a pic of the other story...lol... We also learned about the Ice Age and the history of people who lived during that time - how were they different from us.

I have to say, even I doubt myself sometimes. I've always been very relaxed in HS. I've never been a teacher who read something and expected my boys to remember it. I tried it a couple of times - using a chalk board or dry erase board - and it drove us all crazy when the kids couldn't remember what I had said. So I let it go. I also never pushed them to do work they didn't feel ready for (even though I often worried about laziness coming into play). But I will No Longer worry! After I read these two stories out loud, DJ repeated them almost word for word for my DH when he came home. Apparently he's ready to move onto some more traditional learning!! Xman is still into the 'out of the box' learning, but that's ok he's only 5!

Giving the Gift of Life!

2009-12-09T05:52:00.000-08:00

Ok like everyone I stress and fume about what to give everyone during the holidays. Well, maybe I'm a little different in that I have a hard time parting with a dollar for any reason. I hate the fact that most gifts are garbage or junk no one uses and they are things that someone won't appreciate, nor will they remember who gave them what 6 months from now.

Generally I get away from the headache by making all our gifts. We do 1 main family gift then get the kids something less than $10. All our extended family (cousins, aunts & uncles, etc) get ornaments the kids made. Typical stuff.

But this year I'm too busy to make anything. I'm studying for 2 new personal training certifications (so I can get a new job as I've been without one for a month now...yikes!). I take one of the tests this coming Saturday, but that would leave me with only a couple of weeks to plan and make EVERYTHING! And my sewing machine died before Samhain (Halloween) so I can't even pop something out fast. So I started stressing (as if I needed more stress with my cramming for my exams...ugh).

As you're aware I've been really focusing on charity with our homeschooling this year. I've really been trying to help my children understand that while we don't have a lot we're WAY better off then some, and we should be thankful that Dad has a job, and we're all pretty healthy. So the idea of spending a few hundred dollars on the holidays was even more frustrating. When my kids started telling everyone, "I'm getting this, and this and this and this for Yule." - with utter confidence I was even more horrified. How could I make them understand this time of year was about GIVING not GETTING?

BUT - I've finally figured everything out!! Yee-Haw!! While giving my poor brain a rest over this past weekend, I tooled around on the internet. I wanted to research ways of getting companies to donate bolts of fleece so the kids and I can make blankets for Project Linus before our Feb 18th deadline. Then I decided to search out something to get my mother in law for Yule. I sat back thinking about each person in our family, what would MEAN something to them, what would touch their hearts....and then it hit me. Our family has been touched by a lot of cancer - my grandmother lost her 22 year battle with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2003; my husband lost both of his grandparents in the last 10 years to cancer. My grandfather is currently battling as is one of my uncles. So how wonderful would it be if we could donate money to the American Cancer Society in their honor? I went to their website and found even more - an entire catalogue of gifts where the money above cost goes to the society. So here's what we're doing this year -

I decided to start my own team for then next Relay For Life that happens in my area - this will raise more money then I could ever donate on my own.
Luminaries of our family members - both those that are still fighting, and those that lost the battle - will line the track during the race.
All of the children in both of our families will be receiving t-shirts from ACS, to help cheer me on during the race.
All of the extended family - aunts & uncles, etc; will be receiving ornaments from St. Jude children's hospital.

I've also begged for gift cards to Walmart & JoAnn Fabrics for me for this holiday, so I can buy the supplies for Project Linus. Now I feel wonderful about the money spent, and I'm really looking forward to giving these gifts - seeing how touched everyone will be.

Happy Holidays!

Organization

2009-11-29T17:19:00.001-08:00

Well, one of the questions I've heard the most is about organization. How do I find the time? As most of you know I am a mom of 2, I homeschool both, I'm a personal trainer, I teach kickboxing, I write articles, I teach Sign Language, make blankets for the Linus Project, and I run several online support groups (over 7500 members world-wide now!! Whoot!)...on top of normal cooking and cleaning... so I'm often asked how I fit it all in. I'm a total type A personality so I'm naturally a bit anal about organization. But I believe I developed some good tips & tricks while I was an engineer. So, to help out my non-type A friends, I'm developing a website dedicated to becoming a true Domestic Goddess - with tricks on organization, cleaning, cooking, shopping, scheduling, living within a budget, and not forgetting to dedicate some time each day on MOM! You'll be able to check it out at

http://www.madgetoday.weebly.com

M.A.D.G.E. stands for - Me? A Domestic Goddess? Eeck! (lol)

Let me know if there's anything you'd like to see me add. I'm calling in favors from all my super organized friends so it won't just be my advice!

Yule-Tide Greetings!

2009-11-29T17:15:00.000-08:00

Ahh the Yule-Tide season. The time of family, friends and giving. We put up our Yule tree today (after 3 days of rearranging our home..lol). Here's hoping everyone has a safe, happy and Healthy Yule-Tide!

(sorry for the stupid special effects on the pic, but DH had control of the camera..lol)

Nutrition

2009-11-24T20:28:00.000-08:00

I had a conversation today with a woman at the Wellness center where I teach Sign Language. She stated she always gave her kids food whenever they asked for it. So that her family were more grazers then sit down eaters. As a nutritionist, I have to say I partly agree with this sentiment.

HOWEVER, many in our society are boredom eaters, and I can often see it peaking out in my children. We have our main meals and our snacks scheduled. Breakfast at 7am, snack at 10, lunch at 1, snack at 4, dinner at 7. Eating every 3 hours is optimal to organ development and keeping blood sugar level, according to research. So, I don't always respond to "Mom, can I have a snack?" I'm also of the mindset that leaving something on your plate is better than licking it clean. I can't tell you the amount of times I heard about those starving kids in China when I was growing up - and I never could figure out how my being stuffed to the gills would aid them in any way..lol.. I see my hubby sometimes falling into this pattern as well, reprimanding the kids for not finishing all their dinner. I always say, that's fine but you get nothing else. This keeps the kids from not eating just because they prefer something else, and yet doesn't get in the way of the bodies signals that they are actually full.

That being said, kids often go through growth spurts that require many more calories. If I notice 2 days in a row of the kids asking for more, sometimes immediately upon swallowing the last bite, then of course they can have more - be it meal or snack. Of course I don't allow sugary or many processed snacks so it's ok to have more apples or carrots..lol..

Much of the obesity in America is due to 3 things: 1) serving sizes are obscene in America today, and the whole cleaning the plate syndrome. 2) the amount of easily accessible processed foods, which slows metabolism and increases fat. 3) training our minds to forget it's cues. Many people no longer recognize hunger, thirst, nor fullness. They don't 'feel' hungry until they are starved, they don't understand the body is asking for water and often reach for a snack, and many people don't recognize their full until their stomach is stretched to bursting.

What a Wild Ride

2009-11-24T20:26:00.000-08:00

Boy parenting is such a wild ride! It's amazing to me to look at these 2 young men I'm raising, and see their personalities emerge. How much is nurture versus nature? I always wonder. I mean they are raised in exactly the same environment, and yet they are such complete opposites. I'm so proud of who they are becoming. A part of me can't wait until they are grown men and I can watch them change the world, and yet a part of me mourns the loss of the bright eyed innocence of those chubby infants I held. Can't I have both?

Morning Blahs

2009-11-24T05:38:00.000-08:00

Am I a bad mom for not being a morning person?

I think a part of the job requirement for being a mother is worrying about the dumbest things (and the important things too). I can't tell you how many thousands of women I've heard doubt themselves. Even as I always sigh and give a shoulder to lean on, I know I too am guilty of self-doubt.

I have a strong voice, and have no problem with raising it to curb bad behavior. I know I probably scare everyone in a ten mile radius (just joking), but I know my kids ignore me if I try to keep my voice level. I don't like spanking - reserving the corporal punishment for when one child puts another (or themselves) in physical danger. I know there are some days it seems I'm spending every other moment with my voice raised. I hate it too. I know that if my kids are acting out (fighting with each other, sneaking tv time in their room, etc) then I'm not keeping them stimulated enough...but as much as I blame myself for some of their behavior, I won't punish myself because they're choosing to break the rules...if that makes sense.

I had a tragic and horrible childhood. My dad is my rock, he became a single father of 4 kids when my brothers and I asked my mother to leave and never come back. I have very few good memories of my mother. I know she couldn't always control her actions (she is a very low functioning Bipolar). But that doesn't sooth the many hurts. But as I raise my voice in reprimand, I worry about what my children will remember of me someday. Will they only remember the loud voice? The boot camp exercises for repeated bad behavior? Will they remember the cuddles and the love? My mother insists there were many many times of happy existence, but I have none of those memories. My brothers and I are all missing large chunks of our memory and for a while we would meet to sit and try to fill in the blanks for each other. Then my younger brother and I decided to leave the past in the past. It's enough for me to know I have my dad and my brothers.

As I stated starting out, I'm not a morning person...and yet my children took after my hubby and are up at the crack of dawn raring to go. I just know that it would be perfect for them to get in some school work during that time, but there is no way. Even before they were born, when I was an engineer, I couldn't get up before 8 and wasn't really functional before 10. When my kids were just a bit younger they would try to sneak as much as possible before 8 am, as they know I wouldn't even remember yelling at them.

It's so strange. I can stay up all night fine. I have no problem at 2 am. But between 4 am and 8am I'm in a strange fugue. You can try to wake me, I'll talk to you, but I'm not really coherent. Weird. So I sometimes wonder what the kids are missing by having a night owl mom. This morning I'm early. Preparing to teach Sign Language at our local Health & Wellness center. The kids are listening to books on tape.

If I could write a letter to the adult men my boys become, I would want to say the following:

Every moment of every day I have loved you. I'm sure I've made mistakes - it's how we learn and evolve in this existence- but even when making errors my love for you consumed me. You have amazed me from the moment you came into this world. Brothers together from the start - and yet so inherently different. DJ with his sensitive soul. I look at how open and loving he is, and am jealous that I've been guarded since I was younger than him. Xman is so strong. So funny. I see myself stamped on every inch of his personality. Live life to the fullest my beautiful boys. Don't be afraid to love - even if it doesn't work out your soul will be the better for having tried.

Ahhh We're Baaaaack!

2009-11-23T16:23:00.000-08:00

Independance Hall (where the Constitution was signed)

Liberty Bell

We're now back on track after our vacation. The kids and I had a fantastic time. We first visited my BFF in Ohio (yup that's a 10 hour dive from my house to hers!), where we stayed for 4 days. Then we drove to Philadelphia for an afternoon of visiting the Liberty Bell and Independance Hall. The kids had a good time, and it was nice to get out of the car for a bit - but the drive is 1000 times worse having to drive up through NJ and NY.

So this week we're focusing on finishing our Liberty Lapbook - which covers Philadelphia, the Liberty Bell as well as touches on Thanksgiving. Fun Stuff!

DJ & The Liberty Bell

DJ & X-man looking on to the bell (Xman was nervous of the park ranger tour guide so refused to get his pic taken with the bell itself.)

Abraham Lincoln Stood Here!!! This was a great segway into learning about Thanksgiving, as it was shortly after Getteysburg that Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national holiday - to help bring the country back together.

Playing on the grass at Independance Hall Visitors Center.

It's an Emergency

2009-11-04T09:08:00.000-08:00

A part of our anatomy & physiology lesson plan I decided to do a section on first aid, CPR and emergency preparation. I made a list of everything I could think of to put in a home emergency kit, a car emergency kit and a first aid kit...especially with winter coming on, and a 10 hour drive ahead of the kids and I next week I thought it important for the kids to have a clear understanding.

First Aid Kit:

medical tape
butterfly tape
scizzors
4" guaze sterile pads
3" guaze roll
Elastic bandages
cotton swabs & balls
towels
tweezers
eye patch
arm sling
popsicle sticks (tongue depressor or small splint)
12" Rulers (good for splinting)
breakable ice packs
hydrogen peroxide
rubbing alcohol
bandaids
pain reliever
ipecac syrup
Skin creams: hydrocortozone cream / calamine lotion / antibiotic cream
Rehydration Fluids
Eye Wash

Home Emergency Kits:

3 Gallons of Water & water treatment tabs
3 day supply of non-parishable foods
Battery powered radio
Flashlight
Batteries
First aid kit
dust masks
moist towelettes
garbage bags & ties
mini-tool kit & mini axe
can opener
3 day supply of medicines
pet food
sleeping bags
copies of important documents
cash & change
extra socks, blankets
hats, mittens, jackets
chlorine bleach
fire extinguisher
water proof matches
candles
personal hygiene items
mess kids (plates, bowls, silverware, napkins)
paper & pencil
books, games, puzzles for the kids

Car Emergency Kits:

jumper cables
large fleece blanket
hats & mittens
large flashlight
batteries
2 x 20 recovery tarp
folding shovel
canned goods or meal bars
bags of sand
bright cloth
candles & waterproof matches
metal coffee can (good for melting snow)
pocket knife
mini-tool kit
rope/tow chain
ice scrapper
flares
whistle
maps
phone charger
emergency water packets
emergency flat tire fixer

Happy Halloween!!

2009-11-01T05:21:00.000-08:00

Boy did we have a great time last night! DJ has been slaving away with me for the last month or so on his costume..see, up till this year the whole family would dress up in a theme (last year we were pirates, the year before we were the 3 Musketeers and a Princess, etc), but this year DJ insisted he wanted to be a mummy and X-man wanted to be a Fire Chief. So Dan and I let go of the child withing (a little) and let the boys reign supreme. Let me just tell you what a pain in the rear making a mummy costume is! It took forever to glue strips of cloth to the sweat-suit. X-man's was much easier. He was given the rain coat as a hand-me-down about 2 years ago. So while roaming Walmart we found the hat. So I just made a dress shiry and dress pants with orange satin stripes down the legs. Easy peasy!

It's The...FLU!!! AHAHAHA

2009-10-29T11:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, seriously? I think this whole swine flu is a bit insane. Yes I worry about any type of bronchial thing going around every year, since my oldest has a compromised respiratory system - with severe asthma. But really people with perfectly healthy family members are the first in line to get these immunizations. I just don't understand the freakout. We have the flu go around every year - and every year it's a crap-shoot as to whether or not hte vax will be the 'right' one for the strain of flu that does the rounds. The medicines used for the swine flu were last used over 30 years ago...hmm...no thanks.

Here's some truth's I've dug up. I have no say in whether anyone decides to get the vax (although now they're almost impossible to find - and what's up with that? 'They' Said it would be a pandemic then don't make enough shots for everyone? Did they forget how many citizens we had? Ugh)

According to Dr. Sherry Tenpenny of Global Research here are the ingrediants of the Swine Flu vax:
1. Egg Proteins (which are in just about every flu shot every year, another reason my kids can't take them as they're allergic) this vax also includes avian cantaminant viruses
2. Gelatin- also known to cause allergic reactions especially in those with egg allergies
3. Polysorbate 80 (Tween80) can also cause extreme allergic reactions including anaphylaxis
4. Formaldehyde - known carcenogen
5. Triton X100 - a strong detergent
6. Sucrose - table sugar
7. Resin - also known to cause allergic reactions
8. Gentamycin - an antibiotic
9. Thimersol - 49.6% ethyl mercury (still found in multi-dose vials)

Who doesn't the Flu Shot work for?
1. Babies - a review in 2006 of more then 55 different studies spanning ver 200K children found there was no real decline in babies between birth and 24 month contracting the flu after vax.
2. Kids with Asthma - at the 105th American Thoracic Conference it was presented that children who had received teh vax were more likely to be hospitalzed with the flu than those who were not.
3. Adults (it only works in 6%)
4. Not in the Elderly another review of over 64 studies spanning 94 flu seasons determined there was no appreciable difference between hospitalizations/doc visits for the elderly who had taken the vax.

Even Scarier?

Our own pharmacutical companies might be trying to poison us. Seriously. I'm not a conspiracy theorist normally, but I came across a blog from The Alternative Doctor Blog Network told a story of the avian flu outbreak last December. It seems that Baxter International (a leading US pharmaceudical company) attempted do distribute a Flu vaccine to over 18 countries. Luckily During shipment the Czech Republic tested some of the vax on ferrets. The ferrets ALL died. Oppsie. It seems the vax was accidentally contaminated by H5N1, which is a form of the avian flu virus classed as a bioterrorism agent - oh and it has a kill agent of over 60%.

So it's a little scary to me that the story has been brushed under the carpet. And now Baxter is one of the leading producers in this H1N1 vax. You couldn't pay me to put that poison in my kids.

Anatomy & Physiology Visuals

2009-10-29T10:59:00.000-07:00

So, not everything can be learned in a lap or Combo book. *gasp* Yup I said it...er...wrote it...lol... To help my boys get a better understanding of our subject matter (since we don't use traditional school books) I like to find little video clips or animations on the internet. Since I'm waaaay frugal I prefer them to be free. :-D

Here are some cool anatomy & physiology animations/clips:
http://www.visiblebody.com this is a really cool animation site that allows the student to travel within the body to check out how systems actually work!

You Tube Vids:
Your Circulatory System
Respiration
The Digestive System
The Muscular System
The Nervous System1 / Nervous System 2
The Glucose Song (Nutrition)
The Food Groups Song (fun nutrition)
Cookie Monster's Healthy Food Rap (fun nutrition)
Timon & Pumba Healthy Food Adver (very short but fun)
The New Food Pyramid
Bill Nye The Food Web Song
Skeleton Macarena (great for learning the actual names of the bones)
Bill Nye - Just Wash Your Hands (germs)
Bill Nye on Germs
Bill Nye on Skin
Bill Nye "It's Called Genetics" Song
Bill Nye on Genetics (I just love this show!)

More Human Body Resources

2009-10-28T10:51:00.000-07:00

http://www.squidoo.com/humanbodylapbook#module7860626

http://www.dole.com/SuperKids/Educators/LessonsPlans/tabid/745/Default.aspx

http://www.lung.ca/children/pdfs/buddies_book_bw.pdf (a 22 page coloring book on the respiratory system!)

http://www.captain5aday.org/index.html

Dance Mania!

2009-10-09T13:11:00.000-07:00

The Wellness center in our neighboring town had a free dance day today. So I took the kids. X-man was a little tired so didn't join in until it was almost over, but (of course) DJ was all over that!!

Mad Hatter Day

2009-10-09T13:10:00.001-07:00

Tuesday this past week was Mad Hatter Day, like in Alice in Wonderland. So the kids and I celebrated with a tea party outside wearing hats!

Qua es nos? - Where are we?

2009-10-06T11:45:00.000-07:00

Since we're learning Latin this year, I thought it only fair that the kids learn a little about where the language origionated and was used the most. So we're going to be learning about Rome and Greece. We're also learning about their Myths and Deities. Here's some of the plans I have for learning about these fascinating places...

Travel For Kids: Rome
Travel For Kids: Greece
National Geographic Kids: Italy

Books:
Around The World in 80 Tales
If I Were a Kid in Ancient Rome
The Best Book of Ancient Rome

Lapbooking like:
Homeschool Share
Jimmies Ancient Greece
Digging up Ancient Civilizations
Sugar Plumbs Lapbooks

And We'll Listen to Ancient Roman Music like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzy5DYhkUAI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV0oA3YUiw8

And we'll watch the BBC's :
Ancient Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire
As well as the student documentary - Rome: A Look at an Ancient Society

Awww, Good Bye Summer

2009-10-04T13:09:00.000-07:00

I was just cleaning up my Facebook pages and was reminded that my boys learned to do much on their own this past summer. They no longer use training wheels on their bikes. They learned to ride scooters and skateboards, and They Learned To Swim!!! Awww they grow so fast!

Death Warmed Over!

2009-10-04T12:07:00.000-07:00

Ug. I've been sick with this flu for going on 2 weeks now. Each week is a little different- last week it was upper respiratory (sniffles) this week it's all about the cough apparently. Because I've been so sick, it's difficult to keep on top of the kids' education.....that's why they made workbooks IMO. We don't normally use many workbooks, but I found a few at the dollar store last week, on math and language arts and we've been all about them! So the kids have done reading, spelling and math. We've fallen behind on Science and History. Latin the kids do on their own, so no worries there.

Another friend found this reading website as well: Literactive it's a bit like time4learning, but it's FREE (my favorite word!)

This week:

DJ:

Geography - hemispheres
US History/Geography: Connecticut lapbook. Colonization of America
Economics: Save, Spend, Donate
Art: Making Halloween costumes
Music: Piano lessons
LA Arts: Paragraph writing
Speling: next list as usual
Math: Multiplication (5 & 9)
Notable Person in History: Pasteur
Science: Anatomy & Physiology

X-man:

Geography - hemispheres
US History/Geography: Connecticut lapbook. Colonization of America
Economics: Save, Spend, Donate
Art: Making Halloween costumes
Music: Piano lessons
LA Arts: Word Families
Speling: next list as usual
Math: Addition (sum to 50)
Notable Person in History: Pasteur
Science: Anatomy

Fair? Schmair!

2009-09-26T14:01:00.001-07:00

X-man

I am now in utter agony. We spent all day at the Durham Fair (our local Big E) it was a fab fair, I haven't been to it in like 10 years. I was excited because a client of mine got us free tickets (as she had a booth there), and you were supposed to be able to get bracelets for unlimited rides for only $15/pp. Well of course the bracelets were 'unavailable' today....the face painting cost (wait for it) $10 - per child!!!! Can you believe it? Ten Bucks? Over my dead body. Food for lunch (Corn dogs for each boy child, fries for them to share, a burger for hubby and a bowl of chili for me cost us $45) But the kids had a great time. The horses were outside in the paddock so DJ didn't suffer from too much of his deathly allergy. (and we doped him up on allergy meds like every hour).

This is what's known in the north east as a Farm Fair - put on by the local farmers and craftsman. They had multiple buildings just for arts & crafts then a building for cattle, one for sheep/llama's and another for fowl & Birds & rabbits.

DJ & Xman in the Cattle House

There was also a Discovery Center building that had some scientific findings here in CT. For some reason there was a representative from NASA here who had brought some space rocks and a space suit. Xman made me almost pee myself when, after staring at the suit for some time turned to me in a loud whisper and said -

"So, that guy's dead?" Apparently he thought the suit was like a mummy.....LOL!

DJ & Xman at the NASA exhibit

Sadly, like 80% of the rides were set for people 48" and taller - which disqualified my youngest. So I allowed DJ to go on it with me, but refused all the rest of them since it was totally unfair to let him have all the fun (even though they all terrified him beyond words he still wanted to ride them...LOL). So I finally found a single ride they could both go on (aside from bumper cars and obstacle courses) it was a whirl wind thing, it didn't go up in the air but the 4 cars spun around and around. It was the dumbest set up imaginable. The seats were twice the width of my hips and they only allowed one person per seat. Well when the thing started to spin I was sliding all over and had to brace my legs on the center island. But my 5 y/o couldn't reach the center island and slammed his head into the arm bars several times before I had a chance to grab him. DJ went sheet white about 1/ way into the ride. The guy on the other side of him thought he was sick, but it was just sheer terror. So at least they had fun on one ride. My head still hasn't recovered. LOL...

DJ & Xman on the Swings

Xman on the Bouncy Obstacle course

DJ on the bouncy obstacle course

Xman (beating the bigger kids) on the bouncy obstacle course

Sick House

2009-09-23T08:35:00.000-07:00

Ugh.... Yesterday we were celebrating the first day of fall. We talked on Monday about how the seasons come to be (astronomy) and we even pretended each of us were the sun and earth in order to 'orbit' each other.

The kids are pulling my hair out with worksheets lately. They've always love to do school, and had no problem with doing their vocab while at the gym's daycare before playing. But lately they just drag their feet. We'll have to nip that in the butt right away as there are only so many hours in a day for schooling = especially on mornings that I work.

For honoring the day we went to a local orchard and picked some apples, pears and peaches...the kids had never done it before - with my vascular disease, I have a hard time with all that walking - but we had to do something harvest related. The kids had a blast! The apples were in sad shape after all the hail and tornado's we've had this year. But the kids took the hunt for healthy apples seriously! Today we're doing apple stamping.

Now I'm ill - I think I have a sinus infection, so instead of sitting with the boys while they do their work I'm typing away on this blog... I need a nap.

Last week & This

2009-09-20T16:27:00.000-07:00

Ok it's happened already. Only a month into our curriculum and I've deviated from the original.. . But DJ was struggling. He can't stand math - neither could I at that age. SO when ever I'd give him a worksheet that was just review addition he would drag his feet over it for HOURS! (I'm not exaggerating either!) So, instead of reviewing addition then subtraction then introducing multiplication and division, I decided to do our addition review then introduce multiplication (since it's just repetitious addition) then we'll do our subtraction review before introducing division.

So, last week I started with short cut multiplication - those little tips and tricks we all use....

n x 0 = 0
n x 10 = bouncing n over to the left a place value and add a 0 at the end
n x 5 = everything ends in a 5 or 0
n x 11 = n n (write the n twice, we're not doing adding the places yet so the n is usually a ones number)
n x 2 = everything ends in a 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8

Then there are the checks - like n x 9 = the answer, take the place values and break them up adding them together should equal 9 {for instance, 2 x 9 = 18.... 1 + 8 = 9}

He had a neat little workbook I printed (sorry I can't remember from where) that explained the cheat and then gave a worksheet where he had to write out the 'cheat' then do some equations. Well, the first sheet was on 10x. When asked to explain the above cheat on his worksheet he wrote (I kid you not) "It's easy". Now at first I thought he was writing that it's easy to remember or to execute but then I realized I'd introduced the whole 'cheat' concept as an 'easy way to do multiplication'.... he's so friggin literal!! LOL

SO here I sit, at nearly 8pm on a Sunday night struggling to figure out how I can reintroduce the whole concept to him this week. I came across this website. They actually have a little video lesson explaining how multiplication is just repetitive addition and they have flash cards and everything! Multiplication - no no, no need to thank me...lol...I also found these vid links for explaining the communitive property of addition and multiplication. Furthermore, I was frustrated with the lack of comprehensive worksheets explaining the topic and introducing multiplication. So I'm making my own (of course...lol) Here's the intro worksheet: Cumulative Property. (remember to use the user name: kickbutttidbits and the password: kickbuttmama) I'll continue this week working on completing the mini-workbook. I hope to have a sheet for each number through 12 explaining the skip counting process and going from there.

X-man is flying through his Hooked on Math. My only complaint with it is the material they used for the flash cards. It's that really shiny laminated material. It makes it difficult to flip the cards as fast as the CD dictates, so he becomes frustrated. He's doing amazingly well. If you ask him an addition equation he stares blankly at you, but if you give him a worksheet or hold up a flash cards he's all over the right answer....Whoo-Hoo!

So we're doing more of the same this week. They'll do the next chapter in their horrible Latin book....I'm so disappointed. I've been wanting to use the Minimus series for years and was excited to find a relatively cheap used copy. But there are no worksheets. The 'book' is only 70 pages long. The first thing they learn is "Who are you? My name is...." It lists a bunch of examples. For instance under a pic of Minumus it said "Minumus sum, mus sum" It took me an hour of repeating it with the kids before I realized mus wasn't something they should be tacking onto their responses, as it means mouse! There are no colors or numbers, no alphabet....maybe I'm strange when I think they should learn these basics before learning the conversations?

Spelling is status quo, both kids are used to the process so it's a blissfully easy means of learning (at least one part of our day is!).

As I stated in a previous post instead of learning about the ocean first the kids decided they wanted to do their anatomy & physiology. As long as they want to learn who am I to gainsay?

Picasso

2009-09-17T11:17:00.001-07:00

Boy did the kids LOVE learning about Picasso today. They each picked "Cat and Crab on the Beach" to draw on their own....here's their work:

DJ's Picasso

Xman's Picasso

Egg Spiriments (LOL)

2009-09-17T10:24:00.000-07:00

So we've been working on our Anatomy and Physiology. Even though I had planned on studying the Ocean first, the kids vetoed the decision.

We did a really cool experiments with eggs. One cup was full of water, one with vinegar and other with Coke Classic. Into each cup we placed an egg for twenty four hours. An egg's shell is made from calcium carbonate - much like our teeth. So we were trying to determine what effect certain foods had on our teeth if we didn't brush (as DJ has his first cavity! Even though he brushes every single day).

The kids were shocked and appalled. The vinegar completely dissolved the shell, and the Coke permanently stained the shell brown - no amount of scrubbing could clean it off. My kids aren't allowed Coke to drink now they think they understand why (we haven't gotten to sugar's impact on the body yet..lol).

So DJ was writing to his friend (an e-pal) and he said "we've been doing egg spiriments".....LMAO I think he meant egg experiments or else experiments, but both my BFF and I laughed and have decided all future experiments should be referred to as egg spiriments!

Patrick Swayze - RIP

2009-09-17T10:12:00.000-07:00

It's amazing to me the imact some people can have on the world for very little. Seriously, movie stars aren't pivitol in creating world peace, they don't work to cure hunger (although many do do a lot of charity work). They basically get paid lots of money to play dress-up for a couple of hours in front of a camera....but we love them for it.

Dirty Dancing is right up there with Beaches, Grease, and the Breakfast Club in movies I watched a billion times in my tween and teen years. I absolutely wanted to marry Patrick Swayze when I was about 16 y/o. Grrr .

Sadly he passed away a couple of days ago...and I find that I really am somewhat sad, and I'm forced to ask myself - Why? Sure it's always sad to realize we're getting older, each of us another day, minute, second closer to the time when we'll pass - so I'm sure that's part of it. I'm sure some of it is that these actors are made to be somewhat super-human in our esteem...we're all shocked when they exhibit the same behaviors as us mere mortals - things like getting sick or dieing. But I didn't really know him. I know he had a drinking problem for several years and there were rumors of his infidelity......so really what did I admire about him? Only his tight buns and perfect biceps? Am I really that shallow? I don't recall if he ever did any amazing charity work or was an ambassador of peace or anything...so I guess I really am that shallow...that I'd be sad that the world has one less pretty person in it. So, now I'm somewhat ashamed. I think from now on I'll strive to only be sad when the world is deprived of a beautiful soul rather than a beautiful face......

I'm not saying Patrick Swayze wasn't a beautiful soul. I never knew him. I just watched Dirty Dancing and Ghost millions of times, crying my eyes out at the stupid line, "Ditto". Wanting to take up pottery, lol. But his death has made me realize that even though I watch very little t.v. and even fewer movies, I still have more growing to do. Until I can pass by then register at the grocery store and not be intrigued by the stupid tabloid mags spouting the latest gossip. I need to banish tv and movies for a while. Get my head on straight. That these 'stars' aren't really stars at all. They don't shine with a brilliance from within (again acknowledging that some really do). They shine because they had a lucky break, a beautiful set of genetics, are able to pay truck loads of money for spa treatments and plastic surgery. I no longer want to be that false.

Time for some soul searching!

And my obsession continues...lol

2009-09-17T10:10:00.001-07:00

Is it totally sad that I'm elated to have gotten a label maker? Seriously, my obsession with organization has now reached a whole new level! I've always had a hundred drawers and Rubbermaid containers, keeping everything separate...so was it really necessary that I put a label on the front of each one? I can see my DH shaking his head when he gets home...sigh...but I've craved one forever....I'll know I've reached rock bottom when I label the dish cabinets...LOL..

Dr. Seuss

2009-08-23T14:40:00.000-07:00

As you know, my youngest is working with Dr. Seuss and Nursery Rhymes this year. While I designed a full lapbook for The Cat in the Hat (our first book) I've also designed a simple worksheet for each book (just in case I don't finish each and every lapbook,...lol....

Dr. Seuss Worksheet

remember to use the user name kickbutttidbits and the password kickbuttmama to access my files