The Homeschool Village Garden Challenge

Spring is here and in these parts that means time to start seedlings and getting ready for full fledged gardening.   This photo was taken 2 weeks ago when we planted our seeds.  (The lettuce on the right was obviously purchased.)

Unfortunately, right after I planted my peas we had a 2 inch snow and have since had sleet and freezing rain.  So, for now, this is our garden…notice the lovely trellis for the peas to grown on…yeah, that’ll look great once the ground unthaws, again.

Our seedlings are doing well…most of them anyway.  The eggplant and squash will need to be replanted.

The girls helped with the seed planting and are in charge of watering.  Although they tend to get a little water happy.  We’ve already been working in our garden beds, but they are currently nothing but mud and ice.  Yeah…so much for spring.

Last year when we were in a co-op, Olivia was in a science class that used “A Reason For Science”.   She brought home a mostly unused science workbook at the end of the year.  We used portions of the “Life Science” section to study plants this week.

If you have little ones, you may want to use the Garden Preschool Pack from Homeschool Creations.  As usual, Jolanthe did an awesome job getting this together!

The Homeschool Village is hosting a Garden Challenge starting today through June 30.  Be sure to join in and link up!

Weekly Wrap Up–Florida

Believe it or not, it’s time AGAIN for the Weekly Wrap Up!

Saturday both girls completed in the Awana Sparks games.  They were scheduled to compete against four other churches, but two dropped out at the last minute.  Our group had two teams, and my girls were on separate teams.  Olivia’s team won first place and Lindsey’s team came in fourth.   They both had a blast and that’s all that really mattered!

On Tuesday Olivia visited James Madison University to take part in a research program in the Cognitive Development Lab.  Getting to go to college, and play video games made her day!

Geography/history:  Florida was our state of the week.  We spent most of our time studying manatees, including a lap book.  We spent a lot of time on the Kennedy Space Center as well.

Books and videos we used:

Dancing with Manatees; by Faith McNulty
Florida Manatees, Warm Water Miracles; by Meish Goldish
Face to Face With Manatees; by Brian Skerry
Endangered Mermaids, The Manatees of Florida; Janson Videos
The Everglades and the Gulf Coast; by Daniel Blaustein
Florida; by Karen Sirvaitis
Florida; by Ann Heinrichs
Apollo 11, First Moon Landing; by Michael D. Cole
Kennedy Space Center; by Timothy R. Gaffney
Armstrong Lands on the Moon; by Gordon Charleston

Science:  We studied the circulatory and respiratory systems and added new organs to our “mini me”.



Latin:  This was a built in review week.  So honestly, we hit it 2 out of 5 days this week.

Language Arts:  The girls learned about adjectives and predicate adjectives.  We added a few more pages to the poem books they are making.

Math:  Olivia is learning about making change.  Lindsey is working on addition facts and counting by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s.

Ballet/tap:  We are in recital mode now.  Both girls brought home their costumes and are now working on their routines.

Piano:  Olivia continues to do well.  She’s memorizing songs left and right.  She’s working toward her year end recital as well.

Baseball/softball:  Olivia was placed on the girls 10 and under softball team this year.  She signed up for the 8 and under team, but there weren’t enough participants.  So, she’s head and shoulders shorter than the other kids on the team.  Thankfully, her baseball coach taught her well and she’s holding her own, and even surpassing some of the big girls.

Lindsey’s baseball team is going to take work…lots of work.  There are 13 children, most are 5, there’s one 6 year old and one 4 year old.  Thankfully at this age it’s about learning the basics.

Both kids are averaging 2-3 practices per week.  Lindsey’s team has scrimmages next week and then we go into the regular season.  Softball games won’t start until mid April.

So yeah, if you need me, check at the ball fields….I’ll be there a lot between now and mid June.

Studying Manatees

We took a little learning rabbit trail this week.  In preparation to study Florida, I’d picked up some library books on the manatee.  The girls fell in love with these docile creatures and like any good homeschooling mom, I whipped up a mini-unit study.  Both girls created their own manatee lapbook from Homeschool Share.

Manatees swim in both salt and fresh water.  However, they only drink fresh water (don’t blame them a bit).  If they can’t find fresh water, they will siphon fresh water (rain for example) off the top of salt water.  We did a lovely experiment to show that fresh water will float on top of salt water.

We used 8 oz. tap water and 8 tablespoons of salt and lots of stirring.  Then we added a wee bit of red food coloring to some tap water and dropped a little in the salt water to see if the red “fresh water” floated on top.  Finally, a successful science experiment!

We also measured each girls height, and checked their weight in comparison to that of a manatee.  Lindsey is still stuck at 35 lbs., in comparison to 1200-2200 for a manatee.  Olivia’s 4 ft. 4 1/2 inches didn’t quite measure up to the 10-12 foot long manatee either.

Books we used:
Dancing With Manatees; by Faith McNulty
Florida Manatees; by Meish Goldish
Face to Face With Manatees; by Brian Skerry
Endangered Mermaids, Manatees of Florida; VHS

The video tape was especially useful in showing how boats can injure and kill manatees.  The girls were in tears at one point as they watched a manatee get hit and killed by a speedboat.  Lindsey was quick to point out that “people need to follow the rules”.   Yeah, in a perfect world baby!   There was also some moments of great joy as an injured manatee eventually healed and was released back into the wild.

Oh, and I learned that Lindsey can’t be left alone with a bottle of Elmer’s glue.  When she glues a project down, it’s staying down!

Weekly Wrap Up - Michigan

Another fun and busy week has flown by! Life is just a blur of activity anymore!   Friday night we went camping in the basement.   Saturday Olivia competed in her 2nd Performance Awards.  Tuesday we attended a free concert by the United States Air Force Band. Wednesday was the norm, piano and Awana.  Thursday was Activity Day and 4-H.  Friday back to the norm…just ballet.  I.am.tired.

Yet, in the middle of all that hustle and bustle, we managed to do some school work!

History/geography:  Michigan was our state of the week.  We talked about the Great Lakes and learned the definition of a peninsula.  We had two famous people, Henry Ford and Derek Jeter.  I figured with baseball season starting this week it wouldn’t hurt to read about a pro ball player!  Of course we did our usual state map, flag, fact sheet and state coin.

Books we used:

On the Field With Derek Jeter; by Matt Christopher
The Wanigan, a Life on the River; by Gloria Whelan
The Smithsonian Guide to Natural America, The Great Lakes; by Michele Strutin
Eat My Dust, Henry Ford’s First Race; by Monica Kulling
Along Came the Model T!; by Robert Quackenbush
Thundercake; by Patricia Polacco
Michigan; by Martin Hintz
Michigan; by Elizabeth M. Johnson

Science:  We’ve started studying human anatomy. We learned lots of bone and organ names this week.   We learned how to splint a broken bone.  Please note, we did NOT learn how to do it without worsening the injury,sigh.

We also made “mini-me’s” of the girls.   This week we added the skeletal system and the digestive system.  More to come next week!

Latin:  This week the topic was the sky.  So we learned the words for sun, moon, star and sky.   Amazing how many Latin words I already knew, but didn’t know they were Latin!  We added more pages to our dictionary.

Language Arts:  We have entered the world of contractions.  This went pretty smoothly except on the ones that change too much; such as “will not” becoming “won’t”.  We’ll be reviewing this again next week.

Reading:  Lindsey is doing much better.  She’s reading with a lot more inflection.   Olivia caused my brain to tilt when she asked “Mom, can I read more than is on my work list?  Can I pick out another book to read at bedtime?”….insert angelic choir singing here.

Math:  Olivia is working on the 5 multiplication and division tables.  Lindsey is learning the addition families through 10.

Ballet/piano/Awana:  Still making progress.  Nothing new to report.

I think that was pretty much our week.  Be sure to visit the Weekly Wrap Up!

Activity Day–Bartholomew and the Oobleck

If you’d like a recipe for fun, and a mess, find a group of 5-year olds (or any age for that matter) and add a healthy portion of oobleck.  Stir well and stand back!

Prior to mixing up our oobleck,  we read “Bartholomew and the Oobleck”, then we discussed solids and liquids and the properties of each by using a rock and some water (green in honor of St. Patrick).
Then we gathered round as I started to mix up our concoction.  Then each child attempted to stir.

I pointed out the different textures that appear in oobleck.  Then I demonstrated how the oobleck is hard and solid when you try to pick it up, but then it turns liquid and runs back through your fingers.

Then we divided the oobleck and let them have at it.  I was surprised to find that none of the boys wanted to get their hands in it.  But one of the girls was in up to her elbows!

Oobleck Recipe2 cups of corn starch
3 drops of green food coloring
enough water to make a thick mixture (about the texture of pancake batter)

I usually measure equal amounts of water and corn starch, but mix water in slowly.

Mix all ingredients together. This makes a fun mixture to play with textures. Use different utensils, such as a spatula, bowl, and funnels, to see what form the mixture will take.

Some other fun things to observe about OOBLECK:

• Oobleck is a solid and a liquid at the same time.
• If you make a ball and throw it up in the air, it loses shape and becomes flat in the air.
• Oobleck can be molded in a container and when taken out does not keep shape.
• If you fill a balloon with 0obleck, the air presses or forces the Oobleck back out.
• When you leave Oobleck in the sun, the color evaporates, it turns hard like cement on the top and like jelly on the bottom. When heated this also happens and it is sticky.
• Oobleck does not bounce.

The United States Air Force Band–Spring Tour

Having music lovers in the house, one must take every opportunity to introduce new genre’s.   This week we were fortunate enough to attend a performance by the United States Air Force Band, during their “Airmen of Note Tour”.  If you ever get an opportunity to see and listen to this group, take it!

Tonight was the kick off for the Airmen Spring Tour.   Be sure to check here and see if they are coming to your area.

Performance Awards–Level 2

We live in one of those quaint little cities that offers wonderful, surprising opportunities for our children.   One of the true blessing we have is the local ballet studio.   The instructors are amazing and they care about their dancers.   Our particular studio is affiliated with the American Academy of Ballet.

Each year the students are given the opportunity to participate in the Performance Awards.  This gives each ballet student the opportunity to perform in a paired setting, as well as in a solo dance.  This was Olivia’s second year participating in the Performance Awards (thus, Level 2).

I’m  amazed to see the confidence level Olivia carries during the solo dance.  This same child who bursts into tears trying to sing with the Sunday school class at church, gets up there on stage puts on a smile and dances her little heart out, and enjoys it!

We are also privileged to have Mignon Furman judge the Performance Awards.  Ms. Furman is the Director of the American Academy of Ballet.   She’s very witty, and gracious.  What I like about her is that she encourages the parents to support and encourage their dancers.

Now, this would be a wonderful time for me to throw in a photo of Olivia dancing wouldn’t it?  Well, yeah…but I watched her dance.  I enjoyed the moment and just watched.  (Yeah, and the professional photographer who was there does a much better job than I could ever do.  I’ll be buying those photos later!)

I do however have some poor quality photos of Olivia receiving her certificate and medal (silver with double distinction honors).

And a lovely (yet poor quality) photo of Olivia and Ms. Furman.

Seriously, would you have wanted me to post action photos, when the still photos are…shoddy? 

The Best Day Ever

My husband has two weeks of  vacation each year.  The bad part is you have to schedule ALL of your vacation for the coming year in December of the previous year.  I try to schedule it so he gets to attend the ballet recitals and any birthday’s that fall during the week.   Sometimes though, you just have to pick random dates for no reason and try to come up with something to do.  This was one of those days.

Back in December, when I picked March 11 I had no way of knowing that the monsoons would set in this week and the outside world would be a mud bath.  So I improvised!

We set up the tent in the basement, built a fire in the fireplace, roasted hotdogs and marshmallows and then spent the night in the tent.  Somewhere in there I snuck off to bake chocolate chip cookies for the troops as well.

Lindsey sat in the tent, noshing on her cookies and exclaimed “This is the best day EVER!”

”

Weekly Wrap Up–Arkansas

This week has worn me out.  I don’t know why, there wasn’t anything any different about it, but still I’m exhausted!   Monday Olivia had another follow up with the ENT.  As I suspected, her tubes have come out (in less than 8 months), the right ear is filled back up with fluid and we’re back to a 20-30 decibel hearing loss.  The ENT is treating her with a steroid to see if we can get the Eustachian tube to function properly…if not we’ll be looking at another surgery this summer…go steroids go!

Language Arts:   The main focus in First Language Lessons was linking verbs.  The girls love the little chants that we use to remember the lists of verbs.

Spelling:  Olivia finished up year 2 of All About Spelling.  I’ll be supplementing the rest of the year with some spelling lists I found online at Super Teacher Worksheets.

Math:  Thankfully, this was a review week for Olivia.  Other than introducing the 5 times table, there were no new concepts!   Lindsey is working on her addition facts through the 9 family.

Science:  We briefly skimmed over human reproduction.   We focused mainly on the way the cells multiply as the baby grows in the womb.  Thankfully, nobody asked HOW it got there, so I‘ve dodged that topic for a bit longer.

Geography/History:   The girls enjoyed studying Arkansas, mostly because Sam Walton is from Arkansas and they are both huge Wal-Mart fans.  Me, not so much.   We also studied Bill Clinton.  Did you know that he was born William Blythe III?   His father was killed in a car wreck several months before Bill was born.  His mother later remarried Roger Clinton and Bill changed his name as a teen to try to form a closer bond with his younger half brother.

Another interesting fact is that Crater of Diamonds State Park, near Murfreesboro, actually allows the public to mine for diamonds onsite.  I think that would be one of the coolest field trips if we ever make it out that way!

Books we used:

From Sea to Shining Sea, Arkansas; by Dennis Brendell Frading and Judith Bloom Frading
Arkansas; by G. S. Prentzas
Arkansas; by Domenica Di Piazza
Arkansas; by Rebecca Olien
Bill Clinton; by Hal Marcovitz
Bill Clinton; by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
The Habit of Rivers, Reflections of Trout Streams and Fly Fishing; by Ted Leeson
The Insider’s Guide to Trout Fishing, VHS

Ballet:   The Performance Awards are this weekend and Olivia has been practicing fervently all week.   Lindsey is saying this will be her last year in dance…I guess time will tell.

Awana:  Still plugging along.  Lindsey has completed her book and is about 1/3 through it a 2nd time.  Olivia will finish up her book in another week or so.

Piano:   Great week of practice and lessons.  Olivia loves her music, and her teacher!

Please pray for those affected by the earthquake and tsunami.  When you’ve finished that task, check out the rest of the Weekly Wrap Up!

Weekly Wrap Up–Missouri

We started out our week with a field trip to Colonial Williamsburg.  My full post can be found here (along with info about their homeschooler events.)

Books we used:

Missouri; by Mary Ellen Lago
Missouri; by Martin Hintz
Little House on Rocky Ridge; by Roger Lea MacBride
Missouri School Days; by Roger Lea MacBride
Harry S. Truman; by Barbara Silberdick Feinberg
Profile of the Presidents Harry S. Truman; by Deborah Cannarella
Harry S. Truman; by Mike Venezia
Lewis and Clark Across the Divide; by Carolyn Gilman

Since St. Louis is famous for its barbeque ribs (and fried pickles), I couldn’t resist fixing my world famous ribs for dinner to rap up our study.  Wipe the drool from your chin and read on.

Latin:  Bring on the weather!   We added weather words to our vocabulary, and our homemade dictionaries.  Don’t you love the colorful snowflakes (and the crazy earrings on Lindsey)?

Science:  Our focus this week was on animal ecology.  Translation: we learned about extinction and endangered species.  The passenger pigeon is one of the extinct animals we learned about.  These beautiful birds were once so plentiful that they could totally black out the sun as they flew overhead.  Hunters were paid 1cent per pigeon, and some hunters earned over $1000 per WEEK.  That means that one hunter was killing 100,000 birds per week!   The last passenger pigeon died on September 1, 1914, her name was Martha.

We also learned about the slaughter of the American bison and the poor whales that were almost wiped out.  The northern or “right” whale currently has less than 1,000 remaining.  At one point there were only 250 gray whales.  In 1947 the gray whale was placed on the endangered species list and has since repopulated to approximately 22,000.

Language Arts:  We began working on a poetry book of the months.  The book includes individual illustrations by each child.  We worked on January today and oddly Lindsey drew some lovely flowers in her snow bank.  The sad part is we really DID have snow and flowers blooming in January.   During the next 20 lessons or so we’ll be wrapping it up (along with our school year).

Piano/Ballet/Tap:  Lots of progress going on in these areas.   Olivia has performance awards next weekend so our focus has been on dance practices, and LOTS of it.

Today I was able to get together with another group of moms to discuss unit studies.   I think we all picked up some good ideas, and some positive reinforcement.    I took a couple of our lapbooks and shared those and they were a big hit.

Don’t forget to visit the Weekly Wrap Up this week.

Colonial Williamsburg

This week is/was Homeschoolers Week at Colonial Williamsburg.  This weeks activities focused on domestic life in Colonial times.  If you missed the event, not to worry there will be another held in September.  You can lean more about the upcoming event by going here.

Getting there is half the fun!  Snacks, blankets and sunglasses, what more could a kid ask for on a Monday morning?

The folks working in the shops had the best dispositions!  Some of them had us laughing out loud with their wit.  The guy working in the printing shop was by far the most entertaining!   He was also the most informative.  He spent a great deal of time explaining to the girls about the process of newspaper printing back in the day.  He let Lindsey check out some of the tiny print set (below right), and then graciously put both girls to work.  If you know anything at all about my kids, being put to work was the most endearing thing this guy could have done (short of giving them chocolate).

The wig maker was a scream!!   She pointed out that wigs were status symbols to the colonials, much like our SUV’s and expensive purses are now.    She enlightened us to the types of materials used for wig making…horse hair, flax, feathers (seriously) and stolen hair that was cut from corpses or from a “pick pocket” of sorts. The thief would distract a lady with long hair by bumping or jostling her on the street, then while “helping” her, her hair would be snipped off from behind.

Doesn’t every family need one of these at home, for “those” kinds of days?

While touring the courthouse someone asked how long a person would be sentenced to stand in the stocks.  The answer was usually 2-4 hours.  I didn’t think that was much of a punishment, until the gentleman pointed out that the person in the stocks also had their ears NAILED to the board.  Then upon completion of their sentence their ear lobes were cut off to free them.  This was a handy way of marking 1st time offenders…shudder.

Groups were allowed to tour the Benjamin Powell house.  While inside they were taught proper table etiquette for the period.   Lindsey was picked to be the lady of the household.  Her “husband” was 15 and humiliated to be married to someone her size.  That’s him sitting at this end of the table…you can see her beaming at him from across the baked chicken.

I won’t bore you with all the photos I took, but here are just a few more that made Olivia’s day.  Yeah, there are animals involved.

The girls desperately wanted to ride in the carriage.  However at $12.50 a person we decided that wasn’t a good plan for us…eating on the way home was more pressing in my book.  But there’s always the fall….