Looking for One but Found Another

Isn't homeschooling and life full of rabbit trails? I was trying to find a version of Go Tell It On the Mountain by Garth Brooks, one of my favorites, and found Belleau Woods. Belleau Woods is based on a true story from WW1, where the Germans and their enemies held a truce over the holidays and even shared celebratory time together. Then this made me think of a movie, Joyeux Noel, I watched last year... based on the same story. Huh

Marshmallow World

One of my ALL TIME favorite songs. My mom had this album when I was growing up and couldn't wait to play it each winter. Memories (sigh)




Dean Martin & Frank Sinatra- Marshmallow World

Christmas Time

As we are done with school for the semester and have 2 family Christmas parties done, I am all about feel good Christmas Music. I will be posting some new finds as well as old favorites! Whether you celebrate the season or not... best wished to you and yours from Boys+



Trans-Siberian Orchestra- Christmas Canon

Nerd Family Giveaway

The Nerd Family has reviewed the Clean 'n' Flip charts from Trigger Memory Systems and is giving them away! You can enter 3 ways. Check it out!

Finally Finished

My den is done!!! All my books are nestled all snug in their shelves.

Movies are behind the bulletin boards. Our Library loans are on the top shelf along with the glass kitty G bought me for Mother's Day "because I am allergic and cannot have a real cat."

Ta Dah Dah Dah! My new Ikea bookshelves. I love them. I actually have one more big one but measured wrong and it wouldn't fit properly. That's ok I found a space for it.

It's in the foyer and is housing Snowmen, photo albums, and cd/ dvd binders. After winter it will hold my Mexican Alebrije and Black Pottery collection.

I am feeling so much lighter! I have a table top full of final piles to pack to the basement, find homes for, or pitch. I have filled 6 bags of trash, at least 6 for charity and added some books to Paperbackswap. Ahhhhhh

Animal Zoo

To review vertebrates and invertebrates G is creating a zoo out of Model Magic. He is going through each class of animal in the National Geographic Animal Encyclopedia and choosing one animal to recreate. Here is what he has made so far...

Arachnids- Crab Spider


Reptile- Cobra


Amphibian- Texas Blind Salamander


Fish- Ocean Sunfish

Winter Piano Recital 2008

G had his piano recital this morning. He played two pieces. After all of the piano students were finished the Kid's Fun Choir sang. It was great!


Turkey Dinner


We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Learning Notes: Weeks 17 & 18

I am so excited! We are on Christmas break for the rest of the month!!!!! We have finished 18 weeks and will only be finishing up a model magic project and practicing our math facts so that hopefully we will be ready to start Beta in January. Ahhh, I feel like I can breathe so much easier.

Week 17

Phonics
Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading Review Lessons 157-163 (or)

Dolch List- missed words

Read Aloud
Little House on the Prairie (audio) - Finished

Raggedy Anne and the Nice Fat Policeman- finished

Egyptian Diary- finished

Independent Reading &
Book Adventure

Noisy Nora

Elephant & Piggie Books

I Will Surprise My Friend

I am Invited to a Party

There is a Bird on Your Head

Are you ready to Play Outside?

I Love My New Toy!

Handwriting
Ocean Animals Book

Math-
Work sheets -4, -5

DK Math Puzzles

Flashcards -4, -5,

Science- Invertebrates & Vertebrates
Review

Magic School Bus Videos

Cold Blooded Animals

Arctic Insulation

Food Chain

Social Studies- SOTW 1
Ch 16, 17, 18- Assyria, Babylon, Crete

*Audio

Coloring Sheets

Bull Jumping Videos

Vanschool
Piano
* C Position
* Staccato

Library

Fieldtrip: Food Pantry

Keepers

Badges

Digestive System

Relay Races

Video at Home: Magic School Bus: Digestion

Week 18

Read Aloud
Jungle Book

Independent Reading &
Book Adventure

McDuff Moves In

Max and the Chocolate Chicken

Handwriting
Ocean Animals Book-Finished

Science- Invertebrates & Vertebrates
Review

Model Magic Zoo- review vertebrates and invertebrates. Creating 3D models of each class.

Vanschool
Piano

Piano- recital practice

Recital- Piano & Choir

Assessment inspired by Mrs. Perkin’s Website

Reading

Number words 1-20

Color Words

Days

Months

Dolch (pp,primer, 1,2,3)

Math

Coins & value

Time to hour and half hour

Count 2 (no), 5,10 to 100

Addition 10’s

64 addition problems in 5 minutes (7.2 minutesJ)

Recyling for Homeschool

If you follow my blog at all, you know the we have been remodeling since summer. Well, I can see the end of the tunnel. Everything we have left is cosmetic... a few trim pieces and varnishing the dining room floor. Lately we refinished the floor in the den and we are putting it back together. I really only have one big bookshelf and hundreds of books so I am going to buy 4 matching cases and put them here...
So it is similar to this!
I was going to sell my lonely little not matching bookcase but then I had an idea!
We spent about $3 to convert it.
Ingredients:

4 hinges
2 old cork boards. One I've had since grade school and one saved from a factory dumpster
One lonely 15 year old bookshelf
One bright idea!

Now I can hide the ugly video stacks AND get our bulletin boards off the floor. WooHoo!

Running Off Sugar

If you'd like to run off the sugar you've fed your friend's kids before you send them home... here is a sure fire way! We played this obstacle course at our final Keepers of the fall.

1. Carry a ball on a spoon while walking forwards then backwards on a 2x4.


2. Crab walk 3 times around a set of chairs

3. Crawl under a set of chairs
4. roll a ball with their nose
5. Toss a bean bag at a small rubber ball on a cone... And make sure you toss them ALL over so Teacher of One is as out of breath as you are!

Quotes: The Lonesome Gods

I just finished my new favorite book of all times, The Lonesome Gods by Louis L'Amour. I picked up this book because it is listed in "A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century" for parents to read before starting the program. Since I am a very slow reader especially when it comes to classics I started the list this year ( you can see them in my 888 list at the right.) When I checked out the novel, the librarian asked if it was for my husband... no it's for me. I wouldn't have thought that a western would be a must read classic but knowing that part of TJE is empathizing and understanding the characters in the books so that you can recognize these same situations and react to them in real life, I quickly recognized its place on the list. The story is told mostly in first person from Johannes. In the beginning, he is six, I thought about G a lot. He is crossing the Mohave with his dying father to California. His mother is dead, his father is dying,and he is being taken to a grandfather he has never met, who by the way has threatened to kill his father if he finds him. All of this is within the adventure of a wagon crossing the desert with Indians and horse thieves. We grow up with Johannes through the 500 pages.

Through out this story I found some words that spoke to my heart... things I would like to impart to G.

“Men needed stories to lead them to create, to build, to conquer, even to survive, and without them the human race would have vanished long ago.”

“Listen well. Education is by no means confined to schools. Listen to such men talk, hear their philosophy, their ides about the country, about business, trade, shipping, politics. Listen and learn.”

“Some people only learn by reading, others by doing or seeing, some by hearing. Learn however you can, but learn!”

“You are history,” Thomas Fraser told us, “Do not think of history as something remote that concerns only kings, queens, and generals. It concerns you.” “Each of you has a history that is part of the history of Los Angeles, a part of the history of California, part of the history of the United States and the world.” “You and your families march across the pages of history, and often he who plows a furrow is more important than those who lead an army. The army can destroy, the furrow can feed.”

OK...

This is the best quiz outcome EVER!

Happy Thanksgiving

Bean Feast 1668

Best Wishes to you and yours!

Bull Jumpers

We learned this week about Bull Jumpers in Crete. So we explored our new favorite resource, You Tube, to find some examples. There were very few examples there but I did find this one on another site. Enjoy!


Crazy Bull Jumpers - Watch more Free Videos

Books: Egyptian Diary

I found this book, Egyptian Diary: The Journal of Nakht at the library. It is so interesting! It is a daily journal written by a young scribe in training. Though fiction, it uses historical fact to base the writing. G is really enthralled and asks for more when I stop reading. So if your in SOTW 1 or just want to explore Egypt this may be a book to explore.

The author also has other "journals" from Castles and Pirates.

Learning Notes: Week 16

(lineman showing off the bucket truck)
Best question: How do you get the fried squirrels off of the transformers? roflol

Phonics
Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading Review Lessons 154-155
Dolch List- 2nd, 3rd
Study Dog
Starfall

Read Aloud
Farmer Boy (audio) - Finished
Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (audio)-Finished
Little House on the Praire (audio)
Journey to the Center of the Earth

Independent Reading & Book Adventure
One Little, Two Little, Three Little Pilgrims
The Cow in the House
What Game Shall We Play

Handwriting
Ocean Animals Book

Math-
Work sheets -4, -5,-10
Jelly Bean Subtraction
Flashcards -4, -5,-10
Timed test -10: 34 SECONDS!

Science- Invertebrates & Vertebrates
* Vertebrates
* Review

(Linemen showing off their equipment)

Social Studies- SOTW 1
Ch21 – Phoenicians
*Audio
Coloring Sheet, Map
Glass blowing Videos

Vanschool
Pinocchio (audio)

Piano
* C Position
* Staccato

Choir
Last Day Party

Co-op
Community Helpers- Electrical Lineman

(Lineman climbing a pole)

Keepers
Kindness
Fitness
Human Body- Lungs
Badges

Glass Blowing

During our study of the Phoenicians this week, we learned they were some of the first to blow glass. As an artist in a former life, this is one the art forms which touches my soul. Something about the rawness of the material and forces of the elements. I wish I knew how! So I wanted G to see how and what glass blowing is... so where do we go nowadays? You Tube.

Tour a glass studio


Interview with David Chihuly


Also see:
Chihuly at RISD

Mrs. G & Sal

Oh that Mrs. G... She just made me miss my classroom. LOL Go over and see how her class responded to the classic Blueberries for Sal.

If you have never visited Derfwad Manor... you must! Here is my all time favorite!

Moses and the Ten Plagues

We enjoyed creating and recreating this story.

Our Apple Mummy

I have had the supplies to mummify a chicken since before we went to Florida but it is such a process I have never slowed down to do it with G. But... last week I saw where people have mummified apples. hmmmm So we did that instead. First G carved his quarter into a face.




Then we covered it in Salt & Baking Soda for a week.
When we tried to uncover it, the salt mix was solid. I finally pried it off in one piece.
It is still a little damp and squishy like a sponge.
We are going to put him back on salt to see if there is any more moisture to come out.