Summer Break – Week 1

This has been a really good  first week of “summer”!  The only school work we did was reading, so it was very relaxed.

We went on a great field trip to watch a fabulous craftsman blowing glass.   You can read all about it, and see the cool photos here.  Then we followed that experience up with making our own glass bowls at home.  

Awana wrapped up this week.  Lindsey completed her 2nd Cubbies book, so she earned her ribbon.  She also earned a Faithfulness trophy for perfect attendance and received a Leadership trophy.  Olivia finished here 2nd year Sparks book and received her ribbon.  She also earned a Faithfulness trophy for perfect attendance as well.

Olivia’s baseball team finally got to have their team photos taken after three weeks of being rained out and rescheduled.   All of our regular games were rained out this week.  Although we did finally get one make up game out of the way.  I think at this point, kids and parents alike are just done!

I signed the girls of for free bowling this summer. That’s right, free!  Each girl gets 2 free bowling games EVERY day of the summer!!  Check and see if your city is included in this program by clicking here.  We took the girls bowling on Friday morning and we had a blast!  Lindsey’s ball always rolls in slow motion, so I got a really cool shot of her doing ballet as her ball slooooowly rolls down the lane.

Really, it’s al about looking good as we bowl, right?
Speaking of looking good, look at these vibrant bowling shoes I had to endure.  In case you’re wondering, I did NOT mess with the color…they really were this ugly in real life!

Oh and there is the fact that I’m once again unemployed!!  WOO-HOO!!   Yes, that’s right, I’m glad to not have a job.  I’d went back to work part time at the beginning of January because of a financial crisis that developed while my husband was off work for 9 weeks without pay.  I’m happy to report that the Lord has blessed us, got us back on our feet and I’m once again able to stay at home where I belong!   And seriously, I just don’t have time for a job!  Even though it was “only 12 hours a week” it interfered too much with life!

Be sure to check out this weeks Weekly Wrap Up over at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Making Our Own Glass

As I mentioned in a previous post, we went on a field trip on Tuesday to a glass blowing demonstration.  You can read about that trip here.

While we were there, I had one of those light bulb moments, where I realized I had just the craft to follow up with.  I’d purchased a Makit & Bakit kit back around Christmas and we’d never used it.

The girls had a wonderful time arranging their little beads.  I was expecting far more of them to be on the floor than in the design, but was pleasantly surprised at both girls neatness!

Once they had the desired pattern we popped out pie pans in the oven for about 20 minutes.   What came out was a flat disc.  Once it cooled, we laid the flat disc over a foil covered soup can and popped it back in the oven for about 4 minutes.  (The foil is flared out so that the bowl will be flared.)

   Here are a couple of the finished projects.

Here is an up close photo of the texture and colors.  The bottom is flat and smooth and the inside is textured. 
We made a total of 3 bowls and 2 huge sun catchers!  It was a great wrap up to the field trip and a fun family project to boot!

Summer School?

We finished up our “school year” last week.  Within less than 24 hours I’d earned the title of “slave driver” from a non homeschooling friend, because I said we don’t take an extended summer break.

So, let me share my thoughts on the topic.  After all, it is my blog…heh heh heh.  First of all, I don’t feel that learning is something that starts in September and ends mid-June.  The summer months are perfect for nature studies, messy science experiments, and lazy days reading when it’s too hot to play outside.  This does not mean that the children will be chained to their desks all day grinding through lessons.  (That’s the problem with smart kids, they figure out how to pick the locks early.)

Also, at this age, a 3 month break means you lose a lot of what was learned.  The curriculum manufacturers realize this as well.   Typically the first 6-8 weeks of a curriculum is reviewing and mastering materials from the previous grade.  So, if we work at a relaxed pace over the summer on those 6-8 weeks worth of work, it keeps the skills fresh and sharp.  Then in the fall, we’re ready to tackle new math concepts.

What will we be doing this summer?  I’m glad you asked!

I’ve changed most of our curriculum for the upcoming year.  I did however stay with Abeka for 2nd Grade Math for Olivia, and for Kindergarten Math for Lindsey.

Olivia and I will start working through Level 1 of First Language Lessons and also All About Spelling.  Lindsey and I will be working our way through “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons”.

Both girls will be required to read daily.   I’ll combine this with the summer reading program from out library to get a little extra motivation and accountability.

We’ll also be doing field trips, bug catching, gardening, eating popsicles and enjoying life together.  So don’t freak out if they learn as they go….it’s NORMAL.

Glass Making

Today was a great day!  We went on a little field trip, to a local shop that has glass blowing demonstrations daily.   I’ve never seen the process, nor had the kids, so it was quite fascinating.  The artist was very helpful in answering questions and telling us why he was doing certain things as he did them.

Below, he is collecting a glob of molten glass from the 2400 degree oven it’s kept in.

Rolling the glob ‘o glass in some colored glass chips to add color to the finished project.

Blowing air into the glob o’ glass to get the shape started.   If you look closely, you can see a small hose in the corner of his mouth.  The hose attached to the end of the metal tube he’s working with, and allows him to blow the glass shape as big as he’d like.

The craftsman had to reheat the glass every few minutes to keep it pliable enough to work with.   This particular oven stays at approximately 1500 degrees.

Please note, he worked faster than I could take photos, so there are some missed steps along the way.  Below he is preparing clear glass for the “foot” of the vase he’s working on.

These next three photos show him adding a ring of different colored glass tot he top of the vase. 

Back in the furnace for a few seconds….

A few finishing touches…

And…tada!

The entire process took maybe 12-15 minutes tops!  It was amazing to see a glob of smoldering nothing turn into this lovely vase.  At the point of the above photo the vase was still approximately 1200 degrees.  (youch!)

The craftsman then placed the finished project into a holding oven that keeps the items at a constant temperature of around 1200 degrees.  In the evening, the temperature will drop 1 degree per minute, brining the contents of the oven to room temperature by morning.  Cooling any faster would cause the glass to shatter.

We came home and completed our own glass making projects!  You’ll have to come back tomorrow to read about that!

It’s All Relevant

If you’ve followed my blog for long, I’m  guessing that by now you’ve noticed all the cool changes around here.  If you are new to my blog, let me point out some of the new things to you.   Things like the new color scheme, the way cool header and tag line, the oh so lovely labels on the sidebars.   And the button, DON’T forget the button, I’m LOVING it!  Isn’t it greatness?  (Feel free to grab one from my sidebar to post on your blog….go ahead, I’ll wait while you do that….)

You may be thinking that I’ve been holding out on you, hiding all this creativity and  knowledge.  Let me assure you, that is NOT the case.   Like I said, it’s all relevant,  Relevant Designs that is!

Jolanthe of Homeschool Creations, No Ordinary Moments and Totally Tots is now the proud owner/operator of Relevant Designs.  Jolanthe’s goal is to help mommy bloggers to freshen up their blogs, at a reasonable price.

After a brief question and answer period, Jolanthe whipped up my new elements in a ridiculously small amount of time. I’m totally loving the new look and feel of Learning Curve and I hope that my readers are liking it as well.

So, if you’re just itching to get a new look, head over to Relevant Designs and tell them that I sent you.  I won’t get anything out of it, and it won’t save you any money, but at least Jolanthe will know she’s getting a bit of exposure over here!

Family with a Mission (Review and Giveaway)

As homeschoolers, we’re often encouraged to write our vision or goals for our children’s education.  This of course is good, because how do you know if you’ve arrived if you don’t know where you’re heading?

The same is true for our families.  We sometimes blunder along aimlessly as we survive the day to day activities.   But what is our family mission?  Do we know?

Don and Nicole McCallister, the owners of Engage Family have made it their mission, to help other families find and put into words their individual family mission statements.   Nicole grew up in a homeschooling family, and they plan on homeschooling their three children as well.   Out of their strong faith and understanding of the importance of family, the McCallisters began Engage Family

I was really excited when the folks from Engage Family asked me to review their product.  The process is pretty straight forward.   Log onto their website, fill out the questionnaire (after prayer and discussion with your spouse) and then send in your draft copy, or ask for help if you feel the need.

Within a reasonable time frame (it is a family run business, so things can unexpectedly happen, be patient).  You’ll receive an email with your draft copy, at that point you can revise as necessary or move on to the next step “Pick a Pattern”.    Currently there are 24 LOVELY choices of patterns to choose from….then finish up, pay and wait for your package in the mail.

Here is what our family mission statement looks like up close.  I love the patterns they offer!

First of all, I was super surprised at the size of these family mission statements.  When I saw that it was magnetized to stick on your fridge, I was expecting 3X5, but its actually 8X10 or a little bigger.  Another big plus is that it’s laminated….so I don’t have to worry about certain little fingers pulling it apart.

In addition to giving me a free Family Mission Statement for review, Don and Nicole are also giving away one free Family Mission Statement to one of my readers!!  To enter, go to the choose a pattern page, then come back here and leave a comment telling me which pattern you prefer.

I’ll announce the winner on June 1,  so don’t delay!

 

Disclaimer:  I received a free Family Mission Statement for review purposes only.  I did not receive any other compensation.

Massachusetts Final Wrap Up…and We Are DONE!

 

So what all did we get accomplished this week?  Not much.  We finished up our last three days of math and language arts.    Olivia moved on to the Boxcar Children series.   I started her with book #1, cuz well, I’m just like that.   God help me on the day that I have to get a book out of order.

On Tuesday, we went on a field trip of sorts.  We took the day off and went strawberry picking.  We had a lot of fun!  It was nice just to do stuff that wasn’t “required”.   You can read more about our trip by clicking here.

We also had our last Activity Day for the year.  We wrapped up our 9 month study of Native Americans.   We had a visitor in class, so I asked if anyone would like to share anything they had learned this year…and I was stunned at two of the boys who volunteered!  To read more and see photos, go here.

We finished up our study of Massachusetts by learning about the ladybug (the state bug).  After reading about the little buggers (ha), we went on a ladybug round up in the back yard.  A very unsuccessful round up, I might add.

Books we used:

Face to Face with the Ladybug; by Valerie Tracqui
A Ladybug’s Life; by John Himmelman
The Life Cycle of a Ladybug; by Ruth Thompson
The Grouchy Ladybug; by Eric Carle

We still have a couple more weeks of baseball and ballet left, and one more week of Awana…then I can take a break (she says sarcastically).

Head over to the Weekly Wrap Up to see who else wrapped up this week. 

Native American Activity Day

We finalized our Native American study this week.  I really enjoyed the group of kids that were in my class this year.  It was my first venture into teaching “older kids” (9-11).  At the beginning of the year, each student picked their official Native American name, and those are used here.  One girl, had a difficult time picking a name, so she was named by default, as you’ll see.

“Lilly White Deer” brought in an authentic Navajo rug for us all to look at.  I was amazed that both sides look exactly the same.  Anytime I make anything with fibers, the backside always looks ratty.  Obviously the Navajo are MUCH better than I!

“Lilly White Deer”, who recently relocated from Arizona,  also brought her best friend Emma to class.  Emma and “Lilly” have been friends ever since they were three years old.  They’ve both been homeschooled all their lives.  Emma still lives in Arizona, so it was a special treat to have her with us this week; and it was great to see that their friendship bridges the miles between them now.

The class studied the Tlingit of the Northwest this week.  One very interesting fact we learned, was that they built their homes out of wood planks…what made it interesting was that they cut the planks from trees, without chopping the tree down.  Sounds like a hard, and dangerous way to go about it!

After we finished up out totem poles and potlatch masks. We moved on to our grand finale!  Homemade chocolate chip cookies and fresh picked strawberries.   I was very happy to see that the berries were devoured faster than the cookies.  Pictured below are “Wise Owl”, “Swift Hawk” and “Girl with No Name”.

I asked for volunteers to give a presentation (for Emma’s benefit) on various tribes we’ve studied over the year.   I was thrilled (and STUNNED) that 3 of the boys volunteered.   I’m guessing that Emma’s presence had something to do with their eagerness!

“Dying Mule” was the first to volunteer (and the biggest shock for me).   He read the story he wrote about being an Inuit and living in an igloo. 

“Roaring Bear” also shared his Inuit story.  I have to confess it was a very good story.   The names he gave to those in the story gave a lot of insight into the characters (they were none too bright!)

By far, the greatest joy came from “Wise Owl” volunteering to share his story.  “Wise Owl” is a reserved young man, who has so much to offer.  Typically, he’s not one to “put himself out there”.  So I wanted to jump up and shout when he asked if we had time for him to do his story.  My dear, we’d have stayed an extra half hour for you!

Strawberry Fields…for today

With only two more days of school left, you’d think I’d be hitting the books hard today.  Not so!  We went on a little field trip….to the strawberry fields to do some serious picking and eating.

This is an 8 acre strawberry patch.  There were LOTS of berries and LOTS of mud.  I mean, after all,  it’s been raining nonstop for several days.  We did have a brief dry spell today that gave us just enough time for this excursion, and then it started to rain again on the way home.

Olivia is my “I don’t want to try any new foods” kid.  Although she enjoyed the picking, and slopping through the mud, the scowl in this photo pretty much assures me that she’s not about to try any!

We found several “odd” shaped berries.  So we then ended up in a contest of who could find the biggest and weirdest.  The top photo was the winner.

 30 minutes, and $20 later, we’d picked this lovely crate of berries and headed home to make strawberry shortcakes…and probably freeze some!

The “I’m Not Sure What We Did” Wrap Up

Alright, maybe the title is a bit drastic.   However, it’s been one of those weeks where I don’t really feel like we accomplished a great deal other than just school work.  (And yet, it’s called homeSCHOOLing…so maybe that’s ok?)

Olivia started learning about Roman numerals this week.  She wasn’t as enthused about this as she was multiplication, but she did well with it.   Reading, writing and spelling were right on track, no earth shattering news on those fronts.

Lindsey is reading better each day. Her number recognition is much better and she’s counting to 100 a lot quicker than she was.

I totally dropped the ball on our Massachusetts study.  I had a list of books to get at the library to work on a ladybug unit (state bug, don’t ya know?).   Sad thing is, I could never get time to go to the library.  Maybe next week?

Monday, Olivia had baseball practice at 6:00 pm; Lindsey had ballet at 5:30pm and baseball team photos at 6:00 pm; followed by a baseball game at 7:00pm.    Thankfully, Olivia’s coach cancelled practice at the last minute, so that at least cut out the stress of having to be in 2 places at one time.

Tuesday was supposed to be Olivia’s team photos….but we got rained out at the last minute.  I managed to get some laundry done instead…woot!

Wednesday night was Awana.  Olivia’s St. Bernard car was defeated repeatedly in the Grand Prix.  Her best friends car won 3rd place for best in design, and I was happy to see Olivia jumping up in down in excitement for her friends win.

Thursday night, Olivia’s team had a baseball game scheduled.  Again, rained out at the last minute!  So we got to go to the grocery store and get real food!

Friday was the last day of co-op!  (insert angelic choir singing the hallelujah chorus here).  Then we were off to ballet and finished up with Lindsey having a baseball game at 7:00 pm.  (Although, it’s looking like we’re going to get rained out again!)

I also finished up my tour on the TOS Homeschool Crew this week.  I posted my final three product reviews and am now a has-been.  Although it was a great opportunity, reviewing 47 homeschool products in 9 months was a bit of a stretch.

So there you have it folks.  No photos, no earth shaking news….just a real life kind of week.  Be sure to check out the Weekly Wrap Up to see if the earth shook for anyone else this week.

Cerebellum Corp/Standard Deviants (Review)

Cerebellum Corp/Standard Deviants offer a wide array of products to help prepare high school aged students for AP testing as well as SAT testing.  For obvious reasons (my kids are 6 and 4) I won’t be needing this product  line for quite a while.   However, I received a free copy of the Light Speed U.S. Gov. Politics AP Exam Prep to review.   This particular DVD set takes a look at factors that influenced the adoption of the Constitution and the institutions of National Government.

Topics include":
-separation of powers
-federalism and theories of democratic government
-processes by which citizens learn about politics
-political parties and elections: functions, organization and development
-interest groups and political action committees
-congress, presidency and bureaucracy
-the institutions of the national government
-policy making
-civil rights and civil liberties
-fourteenth amendment
-and much more!

Cerebellum Corp offers a wide assortment of products ranging from family movies to physics.   If you are searching for high quality video production and education in a fun way, then be sure to check out their website.  If you’re planning on taking the SAT’s this is a good way to cram a lot of info into your brain in a short period of time too!

To read more reviews by TOS Crew members, click here. 

Disclosure: This product was provided to our family for free as members of the 2009-2010 Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew. Reviews and opinions expressed in this blog are our own.

Massachusetts (Week 3)

We had a busy week (shocking I know).  So we didn’t do a lot of in depth study of Massachusetts this week.  Instead, we did some reviewing and finished our State Quarter printable, and our Massachusetts coloring sheet from Crayola.   I especially like the Crayola site.  It has various state symbols and factoids listed for each state.

Sites we used this week:
www.usmint.gov/kids
States Coloring Pages from Crayola

We finished our 2 page layout in our Rod and Staff United States Coloring Book as well.

One great learning experience this week was the story of Toll House Cookies!  Ruth Wakefield (God love that woman) invented the chocolate chip cookie at the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts in 1930.  So, I forced my children and myself to bake and eat cookies, all in the name of education!

In math, Olivia started learning multiplication.  Silly child LOVES it!  The way Abeka presents it is interesting, but she’s loving it and asking for more work to do.   Lindsey started working on addition facts, so she’s much happier now that she’s “doing math” not just learning the numbers.

We had two dress rehearsals this week for the spring ballet recital.  Both girls are just so pretty!  (In my humble opinion.)  So I had to share photos.  The actual recital is being held tonight, so I’ll have to post photos next week.

 
On a less attractive note, our mealworms arrived this week!  They have settled into the Beetle Barn nicely.  You can read more about the mealworms here. 

I hope everyone else had a great week as well.  Be sure to visit this weeks Weekly Wrap Up!

Ideal Curriculum (Review)

Ideal Curriculum is a packaged curriculum suitable for preschool and early kindergarten age students.   This particular product line, lends itself well to parents of young children, homeschoolers, daycare providers and preschool and kindergarten teachers.

The curriculum is broken down into monthly increments.  Included in each month are goals for the month, daily schedule and assessments by the week.

For young children with lots of energy, Ideal Curriculum offers a variety of activities throughout the lessons to reinforce the skills.  Activities include:

-storytelling
-sequencing
-songs
-chants
-dramatic play 
-games

As part of TOS Crew, we received a free copy of Month 1 for review purposes.  Both the math and reading were below Lindsey’s grade level, so we didn’t use it a great deal.  However, the lesson plans appear to be very easy to follow and by all appearances would work nicely for a beginning student.

The science portion was lots of fun.  The focus was on wheels and axles and transportation.  The experiments included were simple and easy to do.  Lindsey enjoyed the printables that went along with the science portion of the curriculum as well.  Some are in full color, others are black and white which allows for extra time to color and ask questions.

Ideal Curriculum is offering my readers 10% off on your first order!   Use the discount code  welovekids to receive your discount.   Offer good from May 1- May 31, 2010.

To read more reviews by Crew members, click here.

Disclosure: This product was provided to our family for free as members of the 2009-2010 Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew. Reviews and opinions expressed in this blog are our own.

Dress Rehearsal #2

Today was Olivia’s dress rehearsal for the upcoming recital.  It’s photos like these that make my poor husband twitch….and think about investing in a shotgun.

For the record, the only makeup she’s wearing is a smidge of mascara and tinted lip gloss.

 

Seven….eeessh.

Dress Rehearsal #1

We are in the home stretch for the recital!  Lindsey had her dress rehearsal today.  She is just TOO cute!

Here is another great photo of Lindsey and her best friend Gracie.  (Which I stole off of Facebook from her Mom because I was dumb and didn’t take the camera WITH me.)