Weekly Wrap Up

    In My Life This Week: We've had the norm of a week, not anything spectacular. School work was done, house was cleaned, cooked, & took care of pets.
    We did have one extra pet this week. My nephew had a sick puppy that he brought over for us to take care of while he was at school & work. All of the dog training & puppy taking care of skills that we studied a while back were put in to action. This little guy was a sick pup when he was brought to us. He's doing great now. Here's a pic of the little fellow.

    I did have one accomplishment this week. I finished an afghan this week.

    I should have already finished it, but I just haven't worked on it. I enjoy crocheting. That is my pass time while I am sitting with the children while they work on some of their school work. I crochet while they are working a math problem, answer a question in their Science, etc. I'm not just sitting idle.
House Work/De Clutter: Normal house work, laundry, dishes, bathroom, made beds, floors, & then did some dusting and cleaned my entire desk. My desk was much in the need for some attention. It looks great now.
    Home Schooling For the Week: We finished Module 6 in our Apologia: Exploring Creation With Physical Science on the Lithosphere. I really wanted to study a little more on the earth's magnetic field, but haven't found any books yet to take it in to a deeper study. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
    There are a couple of experiments we have skipped in the past 2 Modules. I think we are going to take an experiment day & just do all of them.
    Saxon 8/7 has been a breeze this week. There were several lessons on division & decimals so we were able to just move right through them. My children love working with decimals. So math was not a subject I had to beg & plead with this week.
    Our great Literature read comes to an end. We finished up Little Men this week. My children have enjoyed this book so much. I suppose it was due to the character Jo, they felt like they knew her already from Little Women. They did find some favorite characters in this book also. That's one of the great privileges of reading great Literature, you feel like you know the characters by the time you reach the end of the book. In some way you just feel connected to them in the end.
    Still no English. Oh, I've got to get with the program.
    For our History this week we have been reading a library book titled If You Were there When They Signed The Constitution by Elizabeth Levy. We have also been reading another library book titled The Summer of 1787, which we will be reading for the next few weeks.
    In reading these books we've been learning why the Articles of Confederation would not work for a permanent government, causing the Constitution to be written. We also learned that people think that Shay's Rebellion had something to do with the writing of the constitution.
    Shay's Rebellion was new to my children. We have not studied this in the past.
Here's a few links to some videos we watched this week on the Articles of Confederation & the Constitution;
     The Background of United States Constitution
     The Articles of Confederation
      Benjamin Franklin Biography
     John Hanson Our First President
     The Articles of Confederation 1781

    What I'm Cooking: We are trying a recipe from another home school mom that we ran across this week, Taco Chicken. I'll let you all know how we like it. Probably will be a big hit with my family. My bunch loves some Mexican foods, also Italian.
    Helpful Hint for the Week: REMEMBER, we don't have to finish the entire book in one year & we can pick & choose what we want our students to learn. We are the teacher. The Curriculum should never be the driver. So, beings we are the driver, we can choose the speed we travel.
    Goals for Next Week: Hope to get my kitchen cabinets pulled out & shop-vac. I like to do this to keep my cabinets organized.
    Pic/Video: Just a quick pic of one of my Valentine cards I received. I think it is so pretty. My hubby knows I like butterflies so this card was perfect.

    I suppose this will about wrap us up for the week. To read about more great weeks drop over to the HMJ & Weekly Wrap Up to read some other great blogs.

Educating From Library Books To Encyclopedias To Erupting Volcanos & Even A Blog Give Away

In My Life This Week:
    My scales are going in the wrong direction. I'm not sure if it's the week I don't pay much mind to the scales because of mother nature or if I've been enjoying too much food. Regardless of the case, it aggravated me that the scales went in the wrong direction after I counted calories & carbs, 20 carbs or less each day & less than 1600 calories per day, with excercising. Can you believe that? Uhh!!!!

Uhh!!!

Me trying to thin down

I'm Grateful This Week For:
    the relationships I have with my children. I know we only have that closeness due to all the time we spend together. Here's a link to a post with a pic of the card my DD left on my desk for me.
I have special tea parties with my children (individually) to build our relationship. My DD sends me little notes & cards from time to time laying a few building blocks to the relationship. I'm grateful that we are both working on the building.

I've Been Inspired By:
    two tapes that I checked out from our local library this week. They are by Inge P. Cannon. I have not heard of her before this week. It appears that she has lots of books/audio tapes that I am interested in reading/listening to. The two that I listened to this week are: Schooling or Educating: Which Are You Doing? & Eliminating Crucial Gaps While Individualizing Education. She never mentions Charlotte Mason, but her teachings could very well pass for CM methods. These tapes were a great encouragement this week to remind me (again) that we don't have to move at the pace of the public school system. We can remain in our subjects/topics for as long as we desire.

In Our Homeschooling This Week:
    we accomplished three math lessons in Saxon 8/7. My children are enjoying their lessons right now. The lessons have had geometry & prime & composit numbers. Their words are, "This is easy. We like this." My son has decided this week that he wants him some drafting tools.
We have not yet returned back to our Exploring Creation with Physical Science through Apologia yet. Hopefully that will be next week. We chose another library book this week. It is:

Exploring The Sky By Day by Terence Dickinson

    This book is easing us in to the different types of clouds & the water cycle. Our next Module in our Physical Science is going to be on water so I just eased this book in to introduce them to the water cycle a bit more in debth than what we have studied in the past. I like to ease in a library book for a review from time to time.
    We place two different bowls of water outside for an experiment, one in the shade & one in the sun. We are checking the temp. of the water each day & measuring the debth to see the warmth & how much it is evaporating. This is to reinforce our Module that was bringing out humidity. We've been testing to see if there was already enough of moisture in the air already or not. We've also checked the sky for clouds to see if we could identify them.
    We are still reading Little Pilgrim's Progress for Literature. We should have this finished up by next week. My son said this has become one of his most favorite books.
History has been a pretty relaxed week. We finished reading our book about Pompeii & pulled down the encyclopedia for further reading. After that Sarah & Matthew drew maps of Italy for some geography skills. Here are the pics of their maps.

Sarah's map of Italy

Matthew's map of Italy

    We've done this in the past, but my children thought it only right that we do another volcano experiment since Pompeii was buried by Vesuvius erupting. Here are some pics of them recreating Mount Vesuvius's eruption burying Pompeii again.

This is the Lab Tray

They are filling the 2 litter bottles with their mixtures

Matthew's volcano erupting and destroying Pompeii.

Sarah's volcano erupting. We used to big of a bottle and not enough mixture to have a more powerful eruption. So now we are planning to do it again for the third time to get it right.

    For English/Grammar this week they wrote narrations on what they have learned about Pompeii. Here are their essays.

Sarah's Essay on Pompeii

Matthew's Essay on Pompeii

    Other than getting in a drawing lesson today, I think this about Wraps up our week.
I am linking up with Kris over at the Weekly Wrap Up & with Sue for the Homeschool Mother's Journal. If you'd like to read more about other's weeks, drop over to one of these blogs & check out the others that linked up also.

On another note, I am having a give away on my blog. Click here to check it out.

Give Away: Social Studies Made Simple

     I have quite a bit of work books that I was blessed with that I am not using so I am going to do some give-aways over the next few months trying to clear my home of them.
    The first give-away consists of 3 work books that would go with American history. These books are not informational enough to stand as a full curriculum, but could be used as a Scope & Sequence that you could check out library books to go along with the worksheet/activities to have a fun schooling.
Here's a few pics of the books.

    The three books range from 2nd to 4th grade level (what front of book recommends). I personally don't pay any mind to what the book says if it is something I think I can use.
    The book jacket on back reads like this: Social Studies Made Simple will spark the interest and imagination of children as they explore the worlds of civics, the creative arts, economics, geography, history, and language arts.
    The Social Studies Made Simple series is packed with interesting activities and projects that are designed to reinforce the knowledge, skills, and values children need to become informed and involved citizens.
    I will choose a winner on November the 1st so I can mail the books out that week after I contact the winner.
    I have several types of work books to give away from math, history, a few science books, reading comprehension, geography, etc. that I will be giving away over the next few months. Hopefully they can be a blessing for someone.
    I don't have a lot of blog traffic on my blog, so if you think any of my give aways will be something one of your blogging friends would like, feel free to invite them over to post a comment on the give away to enter the drawing that is going on.
    Some books I have several copies of so as I do the give away I'll contact the winner to see if they will need more than one copy for their family.
    Hope this give away can be a blessing to someone. Just leave a comment to be entered in to the drawing.

Weekly Wrap-Up: Camping & Hands-on Schooling

      We have had a blast this week! First, Mount Cheaha in Alabama & then F. D. R. State Park in Georgia. The week has been filled with fun. Tomorrow it all comes to an end, back to home we go.
Here are a few picts from our week.

 Sarah & Matthew Welcoming you to Mt. Cheaha State Park in Alabama.

 Here they are at the highest point in the state of Alabama 2,407 feet.

 This is the Doug Ghee Accessible Trail which is a boardwalk that ends at an overlook.

 The boardwalk is about 1/4 mile long & is very well built & maintained. This is a pleasant walk in the mist of nature.

 Breathtaking scenery from the overlook. We saw Redtail Hawks & other birds. Awesome spiritual meditation!

 There are several places you can get off the boardwalk & follow hiking trails or giant stones for picnic tables like the one we used.

 Matthew was in charge of preparing the meat for our Hobo Burgers.

 Sarah was over the red potatoes.

 Here is one of four Hobo Burgers going on the grill for chef Matthew to cook.

 On the highest point is the CCC Tower.

Clowning around in the tower windows.

 As we were leaving Cheaha we visited the Indian Museum by the gate. Our little indians were on the warpath. Now we are on our way to FDR State Park & Warm Springs, Georgia.

 Our children checking the warmth of the spring water that stays a constant 88 degrees. They only fill the three pools two times a year.

 This is a scale model of the Roosevelt Museum & Pools.

 We are standing in front of the Little White House in Warm Springs.

 This is the servants quarters.

 Sarah at the fountains.

 Matthew at the fountains.

 The museum held many Roosevelt treasures. Here pictured is 1 of 107 walking sticks or canes, all very unique.

 Lots of exercise on this trip. Many hiking trails at FDR State Park.

 The children enjoyed the Jr Ranger challenge for patches.

 A short rest stop & forward we go.

Mama's short meditation time on a log while hiking.



    We haven't done any paper work this week, but have learned so much from our adventures. Sarah & Matthew have been doing hands on geography by navigating our travels with a map. Plotting the roads and calculating mileage between towns. Oh, yeah, we did do a little paper work this week. They have been working on their Jr. Ranger badges, & they also did a scavenger hunt answering questions about different things at F. D. R's Little Whitehouse.
     I think I am the one that has enjoyed the week the most. I wanted to go to Warm Springs for my 10th aniversary, but was not able. So this week has been a treat to me.
     It has been a bit nippy in the mornings for us southern folks. We have survived it though.
I suppose this about summarizes our week. If you would like to read other's weekly wrap-ups just hop on over to Kris's blog for all of the others. Happy homeschooling!!!

Weekly Wrap Up: Curriculum Choices

     Our first week has been different. We have used Charlotte Mason's way of teaching for 4 years now, but decided to go with more of a structured text book method this year. We will still use many of her ideas and approaches, just by the guide lines of a text book so that my brain isn't having to think so hard putting a curriculum together.
     For my weekly wrap up I'll just give you all a peak at some of the books we have chosen to work from this year.

For Science we have chosen Apologia: Exploring Creation With Physical Science. My children are enjoying the hands on experiments. I feel like this will take us in to a deeper level of Science than what we are used to.

For History we have chosen A Beka: History of the World 7th grade. We like the way they tie history in with the history of the Bible.

     This month in math we are working out of a little work book called Steps in to Pre Algebra by Milestone. Starting in September we will begin in Saxon 8/7 math. This wasn't my first choice for our math program, but the one I wanted was out of our price range. So, we'll settle with Saxon.
     We are still approaching writing for our English so we have several books we are going to work from again this year. I want them to be able to write extremely well so we are using different techniques from several books in hopes of accomplishing a great writer.
     As for our Literature, We are going to use the A Beka 7th grade Literature book called Of People to read some great stories from. Although this book has some great stories in it, there was just not quite enough in it to quench our appetite for a great book so we are adding a great book along side each unit in it to quench our appetite. This month we will be reading Where the Red Fern Grows. Each day after we have read our set amount of pages for the day, my children have begged to read more.
     Our summer became so hectic that we did not get to use our cute little human body kit that I had found so we are working through it for some Health.
     A few years back we had used Bob Jones Spelling and my children want me to purchase BJU Spelling again, so I suppose we'll probably be doing that for our Spelling.
     Dad has a drawing book that he is wanting to give drawing lessons from and I want to add in a Poet, Artist, and Composer. By the time we integrate all of this in our schedule we'll have a loaded wagon. Oh yeah, we are also wanting to work from our American Sign Language program that we have for our Foreign language for this year.
     Along side all these subjects my children still desire a nature study. We were sitting at the table the other day and my son saw a spider outside our window spinning a web around an insect so out the door they went with art supplies in hand to do a drawing. We may have chosen textbooks for the year, but I see Charlotte Mason will continue to work in our homeschool.
Just a few pictures of our week.

Sarah's Nature Study of a Spider wrapping up a bug trapped in it's web.

Matthew's Nature Study of a Spider wrapping up a bug trapped in it's web. Can you find it? Look for the circle in the middle and a little to the right.

 Sarah's detailed skin diagram with labels.

 Matthew's colorful skin diagram with labels.

 One of our Apologia Science experiments this week was on comparing cubit to metric measurements.
What worked for old Noah in his time may not work for the whole modern day world. See what you think.

 We had to cut a string going from our elbow to the tip of the middle finger. Next we run another piece of string from our first knuckle to tip of index finger (first knuckle on the same finger next to the fingernail). Now tape down the long string and make a mark on it for every length of the short string repeating to other end. Count the marks called "finger marks" and that's how long your cubit measuring string is.

 Then we did a comparison of our different length cubit measuring strings. This could be very confusing if you told four different people, each in another state to build you a 10 cubit by 5 cubit wall and they sent them to you so you could assemble a playhouse. How do you suppose the walls would fit together and look?

Notice the various lengths of our strings. Mine was 33.5 fingers or 1cubit. Imagine measuring a table top 5 cubits and 7 fingers. We need a uniform measurement system. This is where the Metric system came about so it could be used world wide. This was a fun experiment from Apologia Science.
     Well that's another wrap-up for this week. Now don't forget to visit Kris at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers for her's and many more bloggers weekly wrap-ups.

Traci