Song of My Heart

Tissue Paper Silhouette Ornaments

2011-12-06T00:11:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite things about Christmas is making ornaments with my children. Not only do we craft something pretty to hang on our tree, but we make some wonderful memories as well. I love it that these memories are unpacked and relived each year as we decorate our tree.

We made these tissue paper silhouettes a couple of years ago during our mini-unit on Christmas Symbols. They were simple and fun to make, and they turned out beautifully.

I found the idea and directions over at The Crafty Crow (one of my favorite craft sites).

Before making these, we talked about ornaments being a symbol of Christmas and how they remind us of the beauty of God and His creation and all of the beautiful blessings He gives us.

A sweet story to read as a go-along with this craft is Mouse and Mole and The Christmas Walk by Doug Cushman. Our family has enjoyed this story for several Christmases now.

Mouse and Mole go on a walk through the woods in search of the perfect Christmas tree to decorate. Mouse wants to take the tree with them, but Mole suggests that they wait. They go to Mole's house to make some lovely ornaments, and when they return to the woods for the tree, Mouse is in for a delightful surprise.

I'd love to hear about favorite handmade Christmas ornaments your children have made!

Blessings,

Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown: Homeschool Days

2011-10-23T20:38:00.017-04:00

We recently returned from Virginia's Historic Triangle which includes Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown. I have to say that it was one of the best field trips/family vacations we've ever taken. It was fun, affordable, educational, and I highly recommend it!

Before I dive into the details of our trip, I'd like to use this post to give you some information and links that will help you to plan a trip of your own.

Planning your visit during a Colonial Williamsburg Homeschooler Experience Week gives you an extremely deep discount off regular admission there. Here's a quick comparison of regular admission with the prices we paid for the Fall 2011 Experience.

Homeschooler Experience 1-Day Ticket: Adult - $7.50/Child - $5.50 Regular Admission for same ticket: Adult - $37.95/Child - $18.95

Homeschooler Experience 5-Day Ticket: Adult - $15.50/Child - $13.50 Regular Admission for 3-Day ticket: Adult - $41.95/Child - $18.95

All of the above prices are advance purchase, and children 5 and under are free.

Add-on programs for homeschoolers are also available at $5.00 per person (all ages). We attended one of these called "Life of A Soldier", and it was well worth the price.

Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center also offer Homeschool Programs at huge discounts with dates that typically overlap Colonial Williamsburg's Homeschooler Experience. We enjoyed our visits to these locations just as much as we did Colonial Williamsburg.

The Spring 2012 dates for all three locations are as follows:

Colonial Williamsburg: February 11-26
Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center: February 18-26

You can visit the following links for more information:

Colonial Williamsburg Special Events for Homeschoolers

Colonial Williamsburg: Fall 2011 Homeschool Event Calendar and Program Descriptions: There are no programs descriptions available yet for Spring 2012, but browsing this 2011 link will give you a taste of what was offered when we attended.

Jamestown Settlement & Yorktown Victory Center 2012 Information Flyer

Historic Jamestowne - This is the original site of Jamestown, owned and operated by the National Park Service, and has no affiliation with Jamestown Settlement. I strongly suggest visiting both sites if you are able. You can visit Historic Jamestown for free by simply filling out an Entrance Fee Waiver Request - scroll down to "Homeschool Groups" for more information.

Yorktown National Battlefield - This is the actual site of the famous siege and battle and, like Historic Jamestowne, is a National Park. There is no affiliation between this site and Yorktown Victory Center. I strongly suggest visiting both sites if you are able. Again, free admission is offered to homeschoolers who fill out an Entrance Fee Waiver.

I'll soon be writing separate posts about each location we visited, so stay tuned!

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Homeschool Blog Awards

2011-09-25T16:30:00.000-04:00

Just got back from a wonderful field trip/vacation to Colonial Williamsburg, and this weekend I'm doing lots of laundry and getting things organized for our school week.

While I'm on a little coffee break I wanted to spread the word about the upcoming Homeschool Blog Awards at The Homeschool Post, the group blog I'm honored to be a part of with a bunch of fabulous homeschool Mom authors.

The prize page is already up, and nominations will be accepted October 15-21. Once nominations are posted you'll have a ball checking out all of the wonderful homeschool blogs that are out there.

So just click on the button below, and it will take you to a page with all of the details. (And feel free to grab a button yourself and spread the word!)

Have a blessed Sunday!

Checking In

2011-09-06T23:16:00.000-04:00

Just popping in for a moment to say that I have not disappeared off the face of the earth.

It's been an extremely busy summer, and I haven't been on the computer much.

Some of our summer happenings included taking the kids to a fun art day camp, lots of playdates with friends, traveling to St. Simons Island, Georgia to visit with family, having the grandparents up for two birthday celebrations (Superman turned 10 and Giggly Girl is now 8!), going to a wonderful weekend of family camp with good friends, nursing our beloved kitty cat through his recovery from a rear-leg amputation, and managing to squeeze in some school between all of the busy-ness.

Hopefully I'll be able to elaborate on our summer a bit more in future posts, as well as share about our current study of Colonial America. (We're headed to Colonial Williamsburg in a couple of weeks for their Fall Homeschooler Experience, and soaking up as much as we can about this period of history in order to make our trip as meaningful as possible.)

I've also been trying to go to bed earlier than usual, so it's time for me to say goodnight. :)

Have a wonderful week!

Field Trip: Badlands National Park, South Dakota

2011-06-15T11:00:00.001-04:00

In August 2009 we took a trip out west, which I never finished blogging about. (You'll find my five Western Adventure posts here.)

It was a wonderful vacation/field trip filled with history, science, and fun family memories that I want to preserve here on my blog, so over the summer you'll see a sprinkling of backposts retelling our Western Adventure.

First let's head out to the Badlands of beautiful South Dakota.

Just after checking out from our little cabin in Wall, SD. From here we headed out to drive through Badlands National Park. You might be able to tell that the kids are shivering in this photo. It was unexpectedly chilly and windy that morning.

This is what our first glimpse of the Badlands looked like.These pictures do not do justice to the beautiful bands of color that make up the rugged spires and pinnacles. We noticed that the muted colors changed hues as we drove through the park.

The Badlands are the largest protected mixed grass prairie in the United States. For the entire two-hour drive through the park we were surrounded by these beautifully rugged hills alternating with vast, flat praire-land. We made several stops to get out of the car and take in the scenery. (No, we did not see any rattlesnakes - very thankful for that!)

Extremely high winds are common year round, and it was indeed windy on this particular day. (Our jackets were in the car, and I can't remember why we weren't wearing them!)

This picture gives a little bit better idea of the multitude of colors found there. These geologic deposits contain one of the world's richest fossil beds. We did not have time to participate in one of the Junior Ranger programs here, but we did at other National Parks later in our trip, and I do recommend them. Be aware that during many of these programs the park rangers will allude to an old earth and evolutionary theory. We simply used these opportunities to discuss the truths of Creation found in the Bible.

Our first wildlife encounter...prairie dogs! These little fellows are difficult to see in the photo, but they were hilarious to watch in real life. They darted quickly from hole to hole in their "town", and when we rolled down our windows we could hear their calls. The Badlands' 244,000 acres are also home to bison, bighorn sheep, deer, pronghorn, and black-footed ferrets. We did see some bighorn sheep, but I couldn't get a decent photo. I imagine if we had been able to spend more time in the park we would have also seen some of the other wildlife.

A few more interesting facts:

The Badlands National Park was first established as a National Monument in 1939 and became a National Park in 1978.
Of the 244,000 acres, 64,144 is designated as Wilderness Area.
The Park is co-managed with the Oglala Lakota Nation.
Located in southwestern South Dakota, the park is a mixed grass ecosystem that is unlike any other on earth.
For more information, check out the National Park Service website.

Well that's it for this installment of our Western Adventure. Thanks for joining me!

Making Time for Hubby

2011-06-10T01:02:00.001-04:00

Homeschooling moms everywhere know that we’ve got more than a full-time job. Teaching our children, caring for our family, managing our household, and doing everything else that life requires can make it easy to overlook a very important person in our life…our husband!

All too often I am guilty of falling into the trap of putting the kids (and other stuff) ahead of him. He doesn’t complain, but I know that he feels respected and loved when I make an effort to set aside time for him. And by time, I don’t mean a quick conversation as we pass each other in the hall or a few hasty thoughts shared over the cell phone as he drives home from work. I’m talking about intentionally carving out real, in person, sit-down-and-be-together kind of time.

Not only does this strengthen our marriage, but I am a better wife, mother, and overall person when I stay connected to my husband. We are both healthier parents for our children when we are regularly taking time out for each other. Bottom line…the whole family benefits when Mom and Dad are making their marriage a priority.

I am most definitely not a marriage expert, and believe me, my marriage is far from perfect, but I do want to share a few ideas for making time for your husband. These are things that have worked for our lifestyle and routine. Maybe some of these will work for yours too, but if not, hopefully they will at least be a springboard for you to come up with some ideas of your own.

I invite you to join me at The Homeschool Post if you would like to read the rest of my article. (Just click on the little button below.)

I pray that you find it helpful in some way!

Solar System Printables and Resources

2011-06-08T01:15:00.001-04:00

Here are the online resources I used to pull our unit together....enjoy!

Preschool Printables

Homeschool Share unit and lapbook for Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Man on the Moon: A Space Unit for preschoolers from Musings of Me.

A is for Astronaut Tot Pack from Totally Tots

Astronaut Preschool Pack from Homeschool Creations

Astronaut Letter Writing Practice and Poem from Spell Outloud - I printed out this poem and accompanying graphics, cut out, laminated, and glued felt to the back to use these as flannelgraph pieces.

Elementary Printables

Coloring page of the planets from Coloring Castle - This is my favorite planet coloring page because it is so versatile. I printed this out, let the girls color the planets, and then we made mobiles by taping them to fishing line and hanging them from plastic coat hangers to make mobiles. You could also have your kids color these, cut them out, and then affix to their correct orbit paths.

Homeschool Share's Outer Space resources - tons of great stuff here!

Jimmie's Squidoo Lens has tons of printables for a space lapbook.

Learning Pages A-Z - This is a great site with some really nice resources, and it's free to join. Check out their space theme for lots of printables. We used their Planet Cut-outs. The kids colored these, cut them out and attached them to a large piece of black butcher paper to make a space mural. Throughout the unit the kids will add things of their choosing to the mural - asteroids, comets, meteorites, rocketships, etc.

Cool Websites

Planet 10 - Choose the 1.0 Solar System option. It's a virtual fly-through of our solar system, complete with rotating planets revolving around the sun on their orbit paths. Fascinating site. (We haven't tried the 2.0 World Builder option but will eventually.)

NASA for Kids

Main Kids Page

Picture Dictionary

NASA Kids Club

Fun and informative online Solar System game with Mrs. Frizzle from the Magic School Bus.

Spacesounds - very cool Solar System site (a must see)

Experiments, Crafts, Recipes

Scholastic: Ideas for Different Kinds of Solar System Models

The Relative Distance of Planets from the Sun

The Relative Size of Planets

Solar System Song

Make A Stargazer

Universe in A Jar

How to Make A Model of Saturn (using an old CD)

Build A Bubble-Powered Rocket

Taste of Outer Space

Make an Edible Spacecraft

If you have any Solar System resources that your family has used and enjoyed, please feel free to tell me about them in the comments. We'll be doing this study for quite awhile and would like to check them out!

Backyard Solar System

2011-06-06T01:17:00.001-04:00

We are currently learning about the Solar System, and this was a fun and easy activity I wanted to share with you.

It was quick to pull together, cost nothing, and gave us a tangible idea of the relative size of the planets and their relative distances from the sun and each other. (FYI, I am including Pluto as a planet in all of our Solar System activities. Some scientists still go back and forth on whether or not it's a planet, so I've decided that we're going to be old school and consider it one.)

What you need:

9 round objects with the following diameters. (You can use balls, marbles, fruit, whatever you have on hand. If you don't have things with these exact diameters, just ball-park it. That's what we had to do for Uranus and Neptune. For Saturn we made a super-quick model out of butcher paper because I nothing else even close to that size. I had used our only large ball for Jupiter.)

Mercury: 1½"
Venus: 3¾"
Earth: 3 7/8"
Mars: 2"
Jupiter: 44¼"
Saturn: 37 1/8"
Uranus: 16"
Neptune: 15¼"
Pluto: ¾"

A large space approximately 100 ft. long

What You Do:

Explain to your children that your planet models are not accurate in terms of colors and markings, but that the purpose of this activity is to give them a general idea of how big and small the planets are compared to each other and an idea of how far apart they are from each other. (The concept of "relative" was a hard one for my 5 and 7 year old to grasp. I also made sure they understood that the planets are not really the size of these objects but are bigger than we can even imagine.)

Line the planets up in their order from the sun. Place them right next to each other so that your child can really see how they compare to each other in size. (See above photo.)

Now pick up the planets, distribute them among you and your children and get ready to walk with them! Laundry baskets are helpful for toting all of those balls and pieces of fruit. :)

Choose something (or someone) to be the sun. I wanted us to really get a grasp of how large the sun was compared to the earth, so I chose our house to be the sun.

Start at your designated sun and take one step away from it. Lay down Mercury.

From Mercury, take 1 more step. Lay down Venus.

From Venus, take 1/2 step. Lay down Earth.

From Earth, take 1 1/2 steps. Lay down Mars.

From Mars, take 9 steps. Lay down Jupiter.

From Jupiter, take 11 steps. Lay down Saturn.

From Saturn, take 25 steps. Lay down Uranus.

From Uranus, take 27 steps. Lay down Neptune.

From Neptune, take 24 steps. Lay down Pluto.

Now go back to the sun and "walk the planets", having your child name them as you go. Have them take a look at the distances and talk about how close together some planets are and how far apart others are.

You can also point out the inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) and outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto). You can also lay down several rocks to represent the asteroid belt that lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Stepping off the distance between the planets

Sweet Pea and Neptune

It's a long way from Jupiter to Uranus.

This Solar System activity is not to scale, although it did give us somewhat of a feel for planet sizes and distances from the sun.

However this activity is to scale. I hope to do it at some point during our unit after we find a large enough area for it. I'll let you know when we do!

I will be sharing more Solar System fun in the coming weeks.

Have a great week!

Arithmetic Village Review and Giveaway

2011-06-02T15:06:00.002-04:00

I am excited to tell you about a delightful series of living math books that I came across a few months ago.

The author, Kimberly Moore, has given me the opportunity to review and give away a set of her Arithmetic Village series.

Please join me over at The Curriculum Choice to read all about these wonderful books and to enter the giveaway!

My family has really enjoyed these, and I think yours will too.

Blessings,

Memorial Day Freebies

2011-05-30T00:41:00.002-04:00

Currclick is offering four nice freebies for this special holiday:

To receive your freebies, simply click on each individual image above (which will take you to CurrClick), add the item to your CurrClick cart, and use the following code at checkout: memorialdayFREE

I hope that you and your children enjoy learning together and celebrating this important holiday that honors the many men and women who gave their lives for our freedoms.

Happy Memorial Day!

(Disclosure: By clicking on the above images, you will be directed to my CurrClick affiliate links. I will receive a small percentage of the amount of your purchase in the form of a credit to my CurrClick account. Thanks for supporting my blog and our homeschool in this way!)

Field Trip: Cincinnati Zoo

2011-05-28T12:44:00.004-04:00

We took this field trip to the Cincinnati Zoo back in March as part of our penguin unit. The weather was gorgeous on this particular day - warm and sunny enough to be pleasant for us humans but not so blazingly hot that the animals were languishing in the shade or asleep. We actually saw quite a bit of activity from many of them.

Even though we don't live terribly close to this zoo, we decided to purchase an annual family pass. We always have a ball there and come away having learned something new with each visit. Since there was a good special going on family memberships in March, I couldn't pass it up. If we go twice - which we will easily do - we will more than get our money's worth from it.

Do you have a zoo in your area? If so, you might want to check into any special discounts or specials they might be running. Some museums and zoos offer educator discounts to homeschooling families. What a great way to get outdoors for some learning fun with your family this summer - or anytime of the year for that matter.

These King Penguins were the primary purpose for our trip since we had just finished up our Penguin Unit. (Sorry for the poor photography. I was shooting through a wet, glass window.)

In case you can't tell, it was lunchtime when we were there. These King Penguins stand two feet tall and truly do look like little old men dressed in tuxes.

We've been to this zoo several times, but this was the first time the lions were out where we could actually see them.

The polar bears are always one of my fave exhibits b/c it's a huge area, and there is a glassed-in portion below ground where you can see them swimming underwater.

Goofing around at the entrance.

As a part of our membership, we receive unlimited free rides on the carousel and the zoo train.

Sweet Pea the Turtle

One of the giraffes had just given birth that morning, so she was indoors resting and bonding with her new little one, but this elegant lady was out for a stroll.

Another of our fave exhibits. Usually we'll see a mama gorilla with a baby, but only the males were out on this particular day.

Thanks for joining me on this recap. of our zoo trip. I hope you've enjoyed it!

If you're looking for some fun field trip ideas or want to share a field trip that your family has taken, head over to The Homeschool Post and link up with the new Fantastic Foto Field Trips Meme going on there!

Tea Time Tips

2011-05-16T14:35:00.000-04:00

As a homeschool Mom it is so easy to let my days become rushed and chaotic with schoolwork, housework, extra curricular activities and such. In an effort to fit in all of the “important stuff”, I sometimes forget to take a breather with my children and just sit down and talk, laugh, or simply be together.

A few years ago I was introduced to a delightful solution to this problem – Tea Time. We began setting aside a special time one afternoon a week to sit down together for some refreshment and conversation, and this soon became one of our favorite parts of the week.

Here a few tips I’ve learned over the years to help facilitate this special time...

I invite you to join me over at The Homeschool Post today to read the rest of this article. Just click on the graphic at the top of this post.

Hope you enjoy!

Favorite Authors

2011-05-13T21:06:00.020-04:00

I thought I'd take a moment and share this list I've been compiling of our favorite authors.
Of course, it's not complete, but I'll add onto it as others come to mind.

I've tried to link each author up to either their own website or another site where you can see a partial or complete list of their works.

Composer and Artist Study

Mike Venezia (composer and artist biographies)

Opal Wheeler (composer biographies)

Anna Harwell Celenza (composer stories based on famous works)

Science/Nature Study (Please be aware that books in the Let's Read and Find Out Science series sometimes contain evolutionary or old-earth references. It's a great series, so we just use those opportunities to discuss and reaffirm the truths of Creation found in the Bible.)

Aliki Brandenburg (Let's Read and Find Out Science series)
Franklyn Branley (Let's Read and Find Out Science series)
Clyde Robert Bulla (Let's Read and Find Out Science series)
Thornton Burgess
Betsy and Giulio Maestro
Nancy Elizabeth Wallace

History

Aliki Brandenburg
Alice Dalgliesh
Ingri and Edgar D'Aulaire
Candace Fleming
Jean Fritz
Cheryl Harness
Dave and Neta Jackson
Betsy and Giulio Maestro
Ann McGovern (If You Lived...series)
Peter and Connie Roop
Rosalyn Schanzer
Augusta Stevenson (Childhood of Famous Americans)
Kate Waters

Storytime

Jan Brett
Margaret Wise Brown
Virginia Lee Burton
Eric Carle
Nancy White Carlstrom
Barbara Cooney
Ellis Credle
Marguerite de Angeli
Tomie de Paola
Marjorie Flack
Candace Fleming
Rachel Field
Wanda Gag
James Herriot
Margaret Hodges
Holling Clancy Holling
Crockett Johnson
Ruth Krauss
Munro Leaf (The Story of Ferdinand is one of our all-time favorites.)
Lois Lenski
Jacqueline Briggs Martin
Patricia MacLachlan
Robert McCloskey
Emily Arnold McCully
David McPhail
Laura Numeroff
Wendy Orr
Patricia Polacco
Beatrix Potter
Marjorie Priceman

Candice Ransom
Cynthia Rylant
Allen Say
Uri Shulevitz
Tasha Tudor
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Jane Yolen

I hope you find this list useful. Feel free to leave a comment listing some of your family's favorite authors.

While They Sleep

2011-05-06T20:47:00.000-04:00

While they sleep I lay scrunched in amongst all three of them,

listening to the steady rhythm of their breathing,

watching the rise and fall of their small chests.

While they sleep I cuddle them close

and turn to look at their faces

with their long eyelashes and perfect noses.

While they sleep I wonder at their stillness.

Moments earlier they tumbled and giggled.

Now they rest, dreaming the magical dreams of childhood slumber.

While they sleep, I remember their not-too-distant baby days

when I held them resting in my arms, cuddling them on my chest.

The years have flown, growing my babies into these little people

Who walk and talk, laugh and cry, play, and love.

While they sleep, I long for time to slow its pace,

To let us linger in the sweetness, the laughter, the innocence.

Tired I may be, but I relish these young, fleeting years.

While they sleep, if I think on time's swiftness too long, a tear falls.

So I collect these snapshots in my heart,

And store them away for those years I can't bear to think about just yet.

Then I thank God for the miracle of these three lives

And for giving me the chance to witness the miracle unfold.

Oil, Feathers, and Blubber: Two Penguin Experiments

2011-05-01T21:20:00.000-04:00

These two activities helped us to understand how penguins stay dry and warm in the water.

(Please excuse the poor quality of the photos. Something is wrong with my camera, but it was all that I had handy this particular day. Hoping to get it fixed soon.)

What you need:

large bowl of cold water (or fill the kitchen sink)
petroleum jelly
winter glove or mitten
latex glove

What You Do (Experiment #1):

Spread petroleum jelly on the back of one hand.
Immerse both hands in the water.
Pull out your hands and observe them.
Talk about what happened and discuss the differences of how the water reacted differently to the two hands.
Talk about your experience compared to that of a penguin diving into water.

How is this like a penguin?

Before diving into the water, penguins do something called preening - coating their stiff, outer feathers with oil that they secreted in an oil gland near the base of their tail feathers. This oil acts as a barrier against the water, protecting the softer, downy feathers underneath and keeping them dry.

What You Do (Experiment #2):

Put the winter glove or mitten on one hand (to represent the penguin's downy undercoat and blubber blankets).
Over that, put the latex glove (to represent the penguin's outer coat of oiled feathers).
Now immerse the double-gloved hand and the bare hand in water. (Be careful not to let water seep in through the wrist opening of either glove.)
Which hand feels warmer and drier and why?

How is this like a penguin?

The penguin has a layer of fat called blubber underneath a layer of downy soft feathers. These two layers insulate the penguin and keep it warm in the same way that the winter glove kept your hand warm. Penguins spread a thin layer of oil on their outer stiff feathers. This layer of oily, stiff outer feathers keeps the underneath layer of downy feathers dry in the same way that the latex glove kept the winter glove dry.

Both of these experiments were fun, simple, and helped us to make a good connection with the scientific concepts.

Hands-on learning is the best!

Penguin/Antarctica Unit: Video Clips

2011-04-30T22:53:00.002-04:00

Wow...it's been several weeks since we finished our Penguin/Antarctica Unit, and I'm finally getting around to posting our activities.

Penguins are hilarious creatures to watch in action, so we viewed lots of video clips of them waddling, swimming, tobogganing, and caring for their young.

I hope that you and your children enjoy viewing these unique birds.

(As always, please preview any online content before allowing your children to view it, as links can change.)

Animal Planet: Emperor Penguin Dads - great footage of male emperor penguins protecting the egg, tobogganing out to sea for food, and returning to help feed and care for the baby. Narrator does a nice job of explaining the life of the male emperor penguin.

National Geographic Kids: Emperor Penguins

National Geographic Kids: Adelie Penguins

Arkive
I cannot say enough about what a great site this is for viewing photos and video of many different animals. This is a site we'll be coming back to in the future.

It has tons of amazing videos on all seventeen species of penguin. You'll also find a nice collection of facts for each kind of penguin - habitat, range, scientific classification, size, and much more.

Here are the pages for each type of penguin. On each page you'll find several video clips:

Adelie

African

Chinstrap

Emperor

Erect-crested

Fiordland

Galapagos

Gentoo

Humboldt

King

Little (Blue or Fairy Penguin)

Macaroni

Magellanic

Rockhopper

Royal Penguin

Snares-crested

Yellow-Eyed Penguin

One final note...my children were adamant about not seeing any videos of leopard seals or other predators attacking penguins. There are a couple of those on the Arkive site, so you might want to use discernment if you have sensitive kids like mine. :)

Have a great weekend!

Don't Pull Your Hair Out

2011-04-27T22:26:00.002-04:00

I'm still here. Just super busy in real life and have been limiting my time online.

I thought I'd share with you my post over at The Homeschool Post today...

Am I the only one, or are there any other mothers out there who have at some point lost patience with their children?

I’ve talked with enough Moms to know that this is not an uncommon problem.

As homeschool Moms, we have the privilege of having our children at home with us and experiencing the rich rewards that homeschooling yields. This lifestyle has been a true blessing for my family, and I have a difficult time picturing our life any other way.

However, I do have the occasional day when it seems that my buttons are being pushed – sometimes all at once - and it’s all I can do not to sprout horns and a tail.

Some days I’m more successful than others…sigh.

I really don’t want my children’s memories of their childhood to include an unhappy, irritable, shouting mother. That is not who God created me to be, and that is not the mother He intended for my children.

These are a few strategies I’ve gleaned from other Moms over the years that often help me to cope during moments of frustration...

Please join me at The Post for the rest of my article.

Praying you find encouragement in what you read.

Penguin/Antarctica Unit: Book List

2011-03-07T18:04:00.175-05:00

As promised, here is our reading list for our study of Penguins and Antarctica:

Mr. Popper's Penguins is our (almost) daily read-aloud, and we are enjoying it immensely. Mr. Popper is a house painter who has a passion for geography, exploration, and especially penguins and Antarctica. His (and his family's) adventure begins when he receives a mysterious package from Admiral Drake - directly from the South Pole!

The sweet illustrations in The Emperor's Egg make it seem more like a story than a non-fiction account. It does a wonderful job of describing the life of emperor penguins as they lay their eggs, keep them warm, and care for their young. Readers of all ages will enjoy learning about some of the most dedicated parents in the animal world!

The above three books are shorter, non-fiction books that I used as read-alouds. They provided lots of good information that my 7 and 9 yr. olds have used in their lapbooks without being so wordy as to bore my 5-yr. old. All three have fantastic photographs.

My 9 yr. old is using this Magic Tree House Research Guide for independent reading. I require him to narrate a fact or two from the end of each chapter, one of which he uses for copywork each day.

This Zoobook about Penguins is a good source of information. It's not really what I'd call a read-aloud, but it has good illustrations, and we're using it as a source for looking up facts to complete mini-books.

We haven't used the above two books yet, but they are nice little-easy readers with easy-to-understand information and great photos.

Two more titles we've not gotten around to reading yet, but when I scanned them at the library I thought they were worth checking out. I'll let you know our thoughts after reading them. :)

Enjoy browsing, and have a great weekend!

(Disclosure: The above images are my Amazon affiliate links.)

Penguin/Antarctica Unit Plans and Resources

2011-03-06T16:26:00.001-05:00

We just finished up a unit called Winter Wonders, one of Amanda Bennett's really neat Download-N-Go unit studies. I'll write more about that in a later post.

Right now I want to share the resources we'll be using for a new unit that we'll begin tomorrow on Penguins and Antarctica.

Many of these came from Jimmie's Penguin resources and printables. If you've never checked out her personal blog, Squidoo lenses, or her new notebooking blog, you ought to treat yourself to a visit. Her hard work helped me to pull this unit together fairly quickly.

Of course, we won't use or do all of these, but this will be my go-to list for activities and printables.

Printables:

Mr. Popper's Penguins unit study from Homeschool Share
Polar Animals Lapbook from Homeschool Share. There are also other polar resources on this page, including printables for Penguins and Antarctica: A Magic Tree House Research Guide.
Penguin Lapbook from Lapbook Lessons
Sea World Teacher Guides: Scroll down the page to the guides for penguins.
Penguin Teacher's Guide from New England Aquarium (Scroll down a bit.)
Penguin shape template from ABC Teach
Map of Southern Hemisphere from EduTeach
Interactive map of penguin habitats around the world
Penguin Family Coloring Page from National Geographic
Penguin Lapbook - has really nice printable minibooks
Antarctic Food Chain
Penguin Mobile - We'll use these cutouts to make popsicle stick puppets and/or a diorama
Waddle and Hop - neat activity that demonstrates how penguins get around on land
Stages of A Penguin's Growth
Notebooking Pages from The Notebooking Fairy
More notebooking pages

Arts/Crafts/Music

Song: All The Penguins (sung to tune of O My Darling Clementine)
Cute Penguin Craft from Kid's Craft Weekly (a great craft site!)
Penguin Art Activity - also a lesson in following directions
Rockhopper Penguin Mask

Science Experiments and Activities

Penguin Activities for Littles

Preschool File Folder game and other activities
Cute penguin printables for tots.

Antartica Resources

Next post will be our book list. :)

Have a great week!

Back in The Saddle

2011-03-05T16:32:00.000-05:00

It seems I've been a wee bit absent here lately. The month of January was an adventure for our family to say the least.

The first week or so of 2011 was smooth sailing with homeschooling and other activities until Sweet Pea and I came down with the flu. You know, influenza - the kind that knocks you flat of your back for a few days. After a week of fevers, chills, and upper respiratory symptoms (and a trip to the doctor), we both developed pneumonia. I ended up in the hospital for 5 days, but thanks be to God, hers was not as severe, and she did not have to be hospitalized.

During this whole time, my beloved husband was truly my hero. He waited on us both, hand and foot, along with the normal tasks of taking care of the two healthy children, the new puppy, and doing household stuff.

As my condition deteriorated, we knew he needed some help, so we called my dear parents, who came up from Georgia to lend a hand. I am incredibly thankful for them as well.

My stint in the hospital taught me not to take good health for granted. Never in my life have I experienced the feeling of struggling to breathe. It's scary and not something I want to ever go through again. My heart truly goes out to those with asthma and other such conditions.

I'm so thankful to the Lord that Sweet Pea and I are both recovered and that no one else caught what we had. It took a couple of weeks for us to be back to normal, but everyone is healthy now!

Hoping to be back in a couple of days with a homeschool update.

Have a great weekend!

A Christmas Puppy

2011-01-04T19:43:00.002-05:00

Santa surprised us with a special gift on Christmas morning!

Meet Sir Brodie Rudolph! He is a golden retriever puppy who was 7 weeks old at Christmas.

The kids had absolutely no idea and were in a sort of happy shock when they discovered him. :)

Brodie likes to play...

Brodie likes to chew...

Brodie likes to cuddle...

And Brodie, along with my Bissell Spotlifter, is helping me to get our carpets and floors thoroughly clean - one small spot at a time. :)

A Musical Christmas Surprise!

2010-12-23T00:18:00.000-05:00

I just love this.

(Please be sure to turn off my Finetune player on the bottom left of this page before playing the video.)

Hallelujah, Christ is Born!

Christmas in Mexico: Making Ojo de Dios

2010-12-06T17:44:00.001-05:00

Mexico was the first stop on our Christmas Around the World tour.

Our story for this country was The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie de Paola.
I wanted a craft to go along with it, and although the obvious choice was to make paper poinsettias, I was looking for something that was more of an authentic Mexican handicraft.

After a bit of Googling, I found the perfect project for us - Ojo de Dios or "God's Eyes". This art form was originally done by the Huichol Indians of Mexico and involves the weaving of brightly colored yarn in between two sticks. The finished design represents the all-seeing eye of God. I think it's a wonderful reminder of how God is constantly watching over us with love.

The Ojo de Dios is a great tie-in with The Legend of the Poinsettia because in the story a little girl and her Mother are weaving yarn to make a blanket as a gift for the baby Jesus.

This is the best set of instructions for making them that I have found. I also watched a couple of YouTube videos that gave me an idea of how to do the weaving.

Our finished projects...

This is Sweet Pea's. Poor thing is too sick right now to hold it and have her picture taken.

After learning how to make them, Giggly Girl set off to make several all by herself.

After watching me demonstrate, Superman had the hang of it and was an extremely fast weaver.

In fact, I was amazed at how quickly all the kids caught on to the weaving process, and at how willing they were to stick with it - even the 5 yr. old! It really was a fun project, and I enjoyed making some as well.

These will go on our Christmas tree, but in Mexico they are used as decorations during Cinco de Mayo.

Feliz Navidad!

Artist/Composer Group: Georges Seurat

2010-12-05T22:41:00.005-05:00

In an effort to fit in artist and composer study on a regular basis this year, we're getting together with three other families once a month to learn about an artist or composer. This fills a huge need for our us, since artist study is something I never manage to fit into our week.

We rotate to a different family's home each month, and the hostess Mom is in charge of choosing an artist or composer and planning a lesson and activity.

This month we learned about Georges Seurat and pointillism, and then we each painted our own masterpieces in the style of Seurat.

We began by reading a book about Georges Seurat from the Getting to Know the World's Great Artists series by Mike Venezia. (I heart his books, and my kids do too. Even my youngest was able to listen to the entire book. Venezia has also written wonderful books about the Great Composers and the U.S. Presidents.)

A few things we learned:

Seurat was born on December 2, 1859 in Paris, France.
He studied art at the Ecole des Beaux Arts when he was eighteen years old.
He studied Impressionism, but thought he could improve on that method.
He developed a technique which people now call "Pointillism".
Pointillism is a method of painting which uses dots of paint instead of using longer brush strokes to create the picture. If you look at Seurat's paintings up closely, all you see are dots, but when you move away from the painting, your eyes form the dots into a picture.
One of his most famous works is Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. He spent two years painting it, and it's dimensions are approx. 6 x 10 ft. It is comprised of millions of miniature dots. He contrasted dots of color in such a way so that they formed a single hue in the viewer's eye. The painting is housed at the Art Institute of Chicago.

After the reading, we used tempera paint, q-tips, and pencil erasers to make our own paintings.

(Tip: The q-tips worked much better than the erasers.)

The finished masterpieces...

This was a fun and easy art project. Even Sweet Pea enjoyed it and really got into her painting. We're looking forward to next month!

Christmas Around the World

2010-12-02T01:19:00.004-05:00

Today we kicked off a new unit: Christmas Around the World.

This is a study I've wanted us to do for a few years now, so I'm excited about it, and the kids are too!

Today we began our Christmas travels in Mexico. I'll post about that tomorrow, but first, here's a peek at the first half of our travel plans. We'll spend about two days in each country.

Mexico:

Story: The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie de Paola
Craft: Ojo de Dios (Eye of God)
Color flag of Mexico.
Label map of Mexico.
View photos/video here and here.
Food: Prepare Bunuelos de Navidad and Chocolate Caliente.
Celebrate Las Posadas with the traditional procession, the breaking of a pinata and enjoying our food!

Germany

Story: Waiting for Christmas: A Story About the Advent Calendar by Kathleen Long Bostrom
Craft: Make our own advent calendar.
Color flag of Germany.
Label map of Germany.
View photos/video here and here.
Food: Lebkuchen (a traditional Christmas cookie mentioned in our story)

England

Story: The Christmas Day Kitten
Craft: Make a Christingle
Color flag of the United Kingdom.
Label map of England.
View photos/video here and here.
Food: Mince Pie

France

Story: Madeline's Christmas
Craft: Make a Buche de Noel replica (We'll do this if we don't make a real one.)
Food: Buche de Noel (Easy alternative: Enjoy a Little Debbie's Swill Roll, which looks like a miniature Yule Log)
Color flag of France.
Label map of France.
View photos/video here and here.

Italy

Story: Merry Christmas, Strega Nona
Activity: Set up our Nativity
Food: Ravioli, Tortellini, or some other type of pasta
Color flag of Italy.
Label map of Italy.
View photos/video here and here.

I don't have time to finish all of my link-ups tonight, but I want to give credit to the following sources for much of the information I used to put together our little unit:

Homeschool Creations - Jolanthe has put together an incredible collection of Geography resources, including the map and flag notebooking pages that we are using for each country.

Homeschool Share has a wonderful free Christmas Around the World unit study and lapbook from which I've drawn much of my information and ideas.

Galloping the Globe by Loree' Pettit and Dari Mullins

Plus, I've checked out some helpful books from the library that I'll try to put up in my sidebar tomorrow.

This weekend I'll finish up our itinerary, and hopefully get it posted for you. :)

Thanksgiving Book Nook

2010-11-30T19:49:00.000-05:00

We've finished up our Thanksgiving unit, and tomorrow we'll begin learning about Christmas Around the World.

But before I post our plans for that, I'm moving my Thanksgiving book list from the side bar for future reference.

Blessings,

Mayflower Nut

2010-11-30T01:00:00.001-05:00

I found this simple activity at Scholastic. The kids enjoyed constructing and sailing their miniature models of the Mayflower, and we learned a bit of history and science in the process.

What You Need:

1/2 of an empty walnut shell (I didn't have any on hand, so we collected some hickory nutshells from our backyard.)
a ball of Crayola Model Magic Clay(or a similar material) - 1/2" in diameter
1 toothpick
a 1"x 2" rectangle of wax paper (I was out, so we decided to make little red flags instead.)
small, clear plastic cup or other container
blue food coloring (optional)

What You Do:

Press the clay into the nutshell.
Insert the toothpick through the wax paper twice. (Think sewing stitch.) This is your sail.
Insert toothpick sail into the clay.
Fill the container halfway with water. (You can put in a couple drops of blue food coloring to make it more "ocean-like" if you want.)
Now try sailing your miniature ship in the container. If it floats, it's the Mayflower. If it sinks, then it's the Speedwell.
Click here to learn more about the Speedwell. (Until this week I had never known that there was a second ship that started the journey across the Atlantic with the Mayflower.)
You can also expand this project/experiment by testing different types of nutshells and/or clay-like materials to see what floats and what sinks.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Help Bring These Babies Home!

2010-11-25T23:55:00.000-05:00

Please, please...I need your help! :)

Suzanne Mayernick is the Mom of four biological and three adopted children, one of whom is Josie Love, the most precious little girl from Uganda who tested positive for HIV.

The Mayernick family's story inspires me and makes me want to live a radical life of faith.

If you go to this link at SixSeeds before the end of November, you'll see Josie Love's story. You can read it (and be very blessed), skim it, or skip it. But...if you leave a comment at the bottom of the post, SixSeeds will donate 2$ to the adoption of two little Ugandan boys who are waiting to come home to their forever family (close friends of the Mayernick family).

Two dollars may not sound like a lot, but every penny counts when you're saving up to bring home your baby as soon as possible.

Thanks for taking just a couple of minutes to make a difference in the life of these two precious little ones and their family!

Blessings,

Making A Blessing Tree

2010-11-24T11:26:00.002-05:00

This is a simple and fairly quick project to do, and it's a pretty reminder to count your blessings...anytime of the year!

Please join me over at The Homeschool Post to read more about it. :)

Pack A Shoebox and Change A Life!

2010-11-18T14:45:00.002-05:00

I'm short on time, but this is sooo important, so here goes!

Operation Christmas Child is an awesome ministry that we've participated in for years. It's fun, easy, and it makes an impact on our whole family while changing the life of a child somewhere on this planet.

Please, please take a couple of minutes to watch this video. (Make sure to turn off my music player at the bottom of the left sidebar, so you can hear the video.)

A Gift for Katje by Candace Fleming is an excellent book to read as your family puts together your box(es). Not necessary, but a great addition to the whole experience. :)

The deadline for dropping off boxes is Monday, Nov. 22nd. You can find out the location of the collection site nearest you and learn how to pack your box by visiting Samaritan's Purse. (And this year you'll be able to track your box and see where it goes...very cool!)

I pray that you'll feel moved to participate and change the life of a child this Christmas!

Blessings to you,

A Thanksgiving Study

2010-11-12T00:28:00.005-05:00

I have so much to catch up on here, but tonight I thought I'd layout what we're doing right now...learning all about Thanksgiving! This is one of my favorite holidays, and as much as I adore Christmas, I refuse to skip over such an important day in our country's history. So...no Christmas carols around here quite yet! :)
We've done a couple of Thanksgiving units in past years, one based on Cranberry Thanksgiving and another focusing on the Native Americans, so this year we'll be spending a lot of time on the pilgrims, their journey, and their life at Plymouth.

Resources:

Amanda Bennett's Thanksgiving Unit - I'm using this as a sort of guide for the topics I want to cover. It's a 4-week study and quite in depth, so we're just using bits and pieces of it. Her reading list is excellent, as well as her ideas for hands-on projects. I just love this lady!

Homeschool Share - An incredibly awesome go-to site for unit studies, printables, and rounding out just about anything we're studying around here! You've heard me sing its praises before. And did I mention that the oodles of amazing resources on their site are free? I try to love on the generous HSS team when I can by shopping through their Amazon links. :) Here are some of their Thanksgiving goodies:

Lapbook for A. Bennett's Thanksgiving Unit (Scroll to bottom for link to the PDF. Lots of great notebooking/lapbooking printables even if you don't have the unit study.)
Mini-books and other lapbook resources for the book Cranberry Thanksgiving (Lots of good stuff here even if you can't get your hands on the book.)
Main index of Thanksgiving books and printables
Unit Study and Lapbook for Goody O'Grumpity (Again, lots of good info. and printables even if you don't have the book.)

Free Thanksgiving Notebooking Pages from HomeschoolNotebooking.com

Scholastic:

First Person video interviews with Miles Standish and others at Plimoth Colony
Sign up here to go on a virtual field trip of Plimoth Plantation via a live webcast on Tuesday, Nov. 16th. If you sign up, you'll also receive free historical fiction letters from characters of Plimoth Colony. I print them out, put in an envelope, address to my children, and place in our mailbox for them to receive - lots of fun and informative too.
Make a mini-Mayflower with a walnut shell. These look easy to make and fun to sail!
Sail on The Mayflower printable board game

Plimoth Plantation's site:

Two recipes for authentic Wampanoag and Pilgrim dishes
Directions for two Wampanoag and Pilgrim games. (We made Fox and Geese two years ago and still enjoy playing it.)
Learn (and hear) how to talk like a pilgrim.

And of course, some Turkey Fun:

Two cute turkey crafts using items from nature. Not sure if we'll do this one or this one. :)
Styrofoam Ball Turkey Sculptures - lots of room for individual creativity in these.
Gobble pancakes...these are too cute!
How to Draw A Turkey from Art Projects for Kids. These look fairly easy and make a nice finished piece of art.

We'll also be making a Thanksgiving/Blessing Tree. (There are tons of cute variations on this - just Google it.)

Tomorrow I'll post our book list in my right sidebar.

Hope you're enjoying this season!

The Relevant Experience

2010-10-29T23:58:00.001-04:00

Last week I spent a few days in Pennsylvania where I attended Relevant, a Christian bloggers' conference, and it was heart-changing.

The conference itself had a little bit to do with the how-to's of blogging and a whole lot to do with God-following.

The Lord spoke to my heart over the course of the three days I was there and caused me to do a lot of thinking about my family, my marriage, my mothering, and my blog.

I am filled up and overflowing with everything I brought home to ponder, but I only have a moment to quickly share a few nuggets with you:

I have my whole life to blog, to have a ministry, but I only have right now to love my children. ~Sally Clarkson from I Take Joy.
I can't give away what I don't have in my heart. ~Sally Clarkson (on spending time with God each day before ministering to your family)
You can't write with integrity if you don't live a life of integrity. Am I being faithful to my home and family? Are my words gentle? Am I building a foundation of love with my husband and children? ~Sally Clarkson
There is no substitute for time spent with my children. Nurture that relationship with them. ~Sally Clarkson
Seek great things for thyself. Seek them not. Jeremiah 45:5 ~Courtney Joseph from Women Living Well
Ask each member of my family what will make them feel like I am there for them. Make those things a priority. ~Kristen Welch from We Are That Family
Humble myself and ask God what His purpose is for my blog. ~Kristen Welch
Budget how you need to spend your time - even your computer time - and write it down. ~Crystal Paine from Money Saving Mom
Unsubscribe from unnecessary email lists. ~Crystal Paine
My goal is to never see 11:00 pm on my clock. ~ Courtney Joseph

So there you have it. There is so much more that I don't have time to type. I'm still processing everything, but I came away from the weekend with a heart for seeking God's plan for this blog and how I spend my time with it.

More to come on Relevant...photos and friends!

Have a great weekend!

Back in The Saddle

2010-09-14T23:08:00.001-04:00

Hello dear readers! So apparently you have found me here at my new blog address, which is a beautiful thing. I really didn't want to lose anyone out there in cyberspace. :)

For those of you who subscribe to my feed, I'm hoping that your subscriptions transferred over to my new address without any glitches. If you do not receive this post in your reader or inbox, then please take a moment to re-subscribe if you want to continue receiving updates from Song of My Heart. Thanks for your patience, and I apologize for any inconvenience.

In other housekeeping news, the look of my blog will be changing sometime in the next few weeks. I'll be working to re-organize my content, hopefully making it easier to navigate the site, while the young and talented Miss Jocelyn gives me a snazzy new makeover. I'll give you a heads-up before the big reveal so you won't think you've landed in the wrong place. :)

We started back to school two weeks ago and have hit the ground running with other fall activities too.

I'll leave you with a couple of shots from our annual "Back to School Breakfast/Brunch at IHOP".

There's nothing like pancakes and bacon to get your school year off to a good start.

Hope you're all having a wonderful year so far!

Change of Address!

2010-08-29T22:08:00.004-04:00

Just a quick note to let you know that Song of My Heart will be moving to a new address:

http://www.songofmyheart.org/

The transition process can take up to 3 days. During that time you should be able to access my blog at the old address.

Blogger is supposed to automatically redirect you to my new address when the transition is complete. Crossing my fingers that it works!

For my faithful subscribers, I'm in the process of finding out if you'll have to re-subscribe to my new address. I'll let you know once the move is finalized.

I have absolutely no techy knowledge when it comes to domains and servers and IP addresses and such. I'm completely relying on Blogger to do their thing. So...if any little glitches happen, please know that I'll be doing my best to get it all straightened out. Thanks for bearing with me.

See you on the flip side!

First Day of School Ideas

2010-08-17T23:04:00.003-04:00

It’s that time of year again! Many homeschoolers are finishing up their summer breaks, the smell of new school supplies is in the air, and co-ops and support groups are gearing up again. For many folks it’s Back-to-School time.

There is something exciting about the fresh start of a new school year! Even though we school year round, we take a short break at the end of summer and officially kick off our new school year in the fall. I think it’s important to start the year off with a special “first day”, and it can be a great way to get your children excited about school.

Regardless of your homeschool style, having some fun first-day-of-school traditions can breathe new life into your schooling and set the tone for the new year.

Here are a few things we’ve done over the years that have created some excitement and made for some sweet memories...

I invite you to head over to The Curriculum Choice to read the rest of this article.

Hope you have a wonderful first day back - Enjoy!

Checking In

2010-08-11T21:57:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to pop in and quickly say hello and that I'm not retiring from blogging! :) I think this is the longest blogging break I've ever taken.

We've had a lot going on this summer, and I have a ton of posts I want to share with you. Not sure when I'll get to them all, but it will happen - slowly but surely.

Meanwhile, I pray that you're having a relaxing and fun summer with your family!

Blessings,

Fourth of July Favorites

2010-07-01T23:00:00.002-04:00

(Image courtesy of Vintage Holiday Crafts)

I'm excited because we'll be home for the 4th this year!
I hope to do at least a couple of fun things from the links below.

Celebrate with Learning

•No Time for Flashcards has a nice list of patriotic books. I've not read any of them, but they sound like they're worth checking out.

•Both of these lapbooks are chock full of some great mini-booklets and other lapbook components. They're free too! One is geared toward older children, and the other is geared toward younger children.

Celebrate with Arts and Crafts

•This Flag Monoprint is not only pretty, but fairly simple and a great study in the art of printmaking.

•No Time for Flashcards is one of my favorite go-to sites for easy but meaningful crafts, and she has several great ideas and directions for patriotic crafts in this post.

•I think this cute little craft has been around forever. My girls especially enjoy working with beads, so I think we'll make a few of these American Flag Pins for our guests. What a great fine motor activity too!

•These printables will make it easy to craft some patriotic pinwheels. (My kids enjoy sticking pinwheels in our flower beds. They look really neat on a breezy day.)

•This Felt American Flag will add some patriotic flair to your home this weekend. Scroll down that same page for a really cool patriotic windsock.

•Wouldn't these Fabulous Doilie Fireworks look pretty in a frame?

Celebrate with Food

•How Does She? has a yummy recipe for red, white, and blue cupcakes. The best part? These cupcakes do not contain articial coloring, as long as you use natural jello. Yay!

•Dessert pizzas are so fun to make and eat! I made a Flag Cookie Pizza one year for a cookout, and it disappeared quickly.

•This recipe for Star-Shaped Fruit Salad looks easy and fun to make with your kids. My kids are huge watermelon fans, so we'll definitely try this together.

Celebrate with Games

•The sisters over at Roots and Wings Co. put on a July 4th family carnival last year. You can read about all of their fabulous games and activities here and here.

•My favorites are their 4th of July Bowling and their Bean Bag Toss.

Enjoy browsing these ideas, and enjoy celebrating our nation's birthday with your kids!

A Favorite Homeschooling Book

2010-06-17T22:11:00.007-04:00

Not much time to blog this week, but I didn't want to miss out on the Homeschool Village fun!

Today the topic is your favorite book that encourages you as a homeschooling Mom...

I have several homeschooling books that have inspired and uplifted me along this journey, but if I had to pick a favorite today it would be So You're Thinking About Homeschooling by Lisa Whelchel.

Each chapter of this book highlights one of fifteen different families who homeschool and "do life" in their own unique way. I can pick it up, read a chapter in just a few short minutes, and receive encouragement that this homeschooling thing is a good choice and that it can be done successfully.

I still pick this book up for a quick dose of refreshment even as we are beginning our fifth year of homeschooling.

I am a bonafide book-a-holic, so I can't wait to read about everyone else's favorites!

Blessings,

Review: Bright Ideas Press

2010-06-16T14:09:00.003-04:00

A couple of years ago I purchased a used copy of The Mystery of History, Volume 1, by Linda LaCour Hobar. I had heard many good things about the curriculum and was curious to see it for myself. Since we're not really a textbook kind of family, and my children were pretty young at the time, I simply enjoyed using it for my own reading and reference purposes.

So...when Bright Ideas Press sent The Old Schoohouse Review Crew a copy of The Mystery of History, Volume 3, I was quite excited.

It contains 84 lessons covering The Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Growth of Nations. The colorful, hardback Student Reader can be used as a stand alone world history course, but those wanting to delve deeper into the material should consider the 500-page Companion Guide: Curriculum and Student Activities, which contains:

•28 weeks worth of learning activities for younger, middle, and older students

•Memory cards

•Hands-on projects

•Field trip suggestions

•Review games

•Informative articles for the teacher

•Form for recording grades

•17 different outline maps

•Geography activities

•Supplemental book list

•Pretests, quizzes, and answer keys

•Timeline helps

The Mystery of History can be used with grades K-8th, but the author states in her letter to teachers that she has provided "tracks to run on that best match Middle Students, those from about 4th to 8th grades". The activities can be adapted to fit the needs of younger and older students as well.

What I Like:

•God is placed at the center of the world's history. The reader can see how His hand has shaped human events.

•Written in a conversational style, the Student Reader is more interesting than a dry, traditional textbook.

•The Student Reader is a beautiful, colorful, hardback volume.

•The activities and helps in the Companion Guide are fun and interesting, helping to make the history lesson come alive.

•The curriculum is written in a way that simplifies multi-level teaching, especially if you use the Companion Guide.

•Students are encouraged to keep a history notebook in which they place their completed activities.

•Even if you don't teach history chronologically, this is a wonderful resource for studying a specific time period.

•Although I am not reviewing volumes 1 and 2, I'd like to point out that this history of the world traces events chronologically, lining them up with Biblical history. (For example, the reader learns what was going on in the rest of the world when King David was on the throne of Israel.) Obviously, the events of Volume 3 take place after Bible times.

I found just one drawback to this curriculum, and it only involves the Student Reader.

As I read aloud to my children, I realized that my 6-year old was not attending to the reading at all, and my 8-year old, who usually enjoys history, was not as interested as I thought he would be. Keep in mind that this was the first time these kids were exposed to a textbook of any kind and to this particular period of history.

I decided to try an experiment and read to the children from Volume 1. I was surprised to find that it held everyone's attention. This makes sense in light of the author's note that each volume is progressively harder because hopefully students are growing with the material.

She recommends that you begin with Volume 1 and work through the curriculum chronologically. This is not necessary but recommended.

As far as Volume 3 goes, I felt the text was interesting, and I'll definitely pull it back out from time to time to see if we're ready for it. In the meantime I'll use it as a reference for any of our unit studies that fall into this period of history, and the Companion Guide will provide us with a wide variety of fun activities to enhance our history units.

And...in the future if I decide for us to study history chronologically, this is the curriculum I will most likely choose.

Overall, I give The Mystery of History a huge thumbs-up, and I encourage you to visit the Bright Ideas website to check out the other volumes and all of the wonderful supplemental products that have been created to go along with the curriculum.

Pricing

•Student Reader - $59.95

•Companion Guide CD-ROM - $29.95

•Companion Guide paper Version - $39.95

If you'd like to read more reviews about this and other products from Bright Ideas Press, head over to The Old Schoolhouse Crew Blog.

Enjoy!

Refreshing Mom

2010-06-09T23:00:00.001-04:00

Today I'm excited to be participating for the first time in The Homeschool Village Blog Fair, a meme aimed at connecting and encouraging the hearts of homeschool Moms across the blogosphere.

This week's topic is:

How do you - Mom - take a break and get refreshed for the upcoming homeschool year?

In a nutshell...I GET AWAY!

Temporarily, that is. :)

In the past this has happened in several different forms and fashions including:

• a half-day at any place with food, beverage, and wifi

• an entire day at the above-mentioned place

• an afternoon at the library (I know, no food or drink here, but sometimes I need access to the books to plan.)

• attending the Mid-West Homeschool Convention

• an overnight retreat either by myself or with hubby - preferably some peaceful place out in the country

What I do while I'm away:

• Spend time talking to God and meditating on His Word

• If Kurt is with me, I obviously dedicate most of the retreat to investing in our relationship, which in turn almost always helps me to be a better Mom. However, my hubby is a huge support to my homeschooling efforts, and he doesn't mind if I do a bit of planning while he kicks back with a good book or in front of the TV.

• Reflect on the previous year of homeschool, taking into account what worked and what didn't, and develop an idea of what I want the upcoming year to look like. I really like to remember what we accomplished and think about all of the reasons that Kurt and I have chosen to homeschool.

• For each child I like to re-evaluate goals from the previous year, and make a new set for the coming year.

• Map out the general "flow" of our year...decide on the history and science topics we'll cover in our unit studies, choose the composers and artists for our fine arts studies, and make a list of any curriculum we'll be using.

When I am able to get away, I never finish all of the "school" stuff that I've listed, and honestly, the first two bullet points are the most important - in that order. If homeschool begins to take priority over my relationship with God and my marriage, then everything else goes tubing anyway. (And, yes, I've let that happen at times in the past, and it ain't purdy!)

This year I was able to attend a homeschool convention, and Kurt and I went away for two days to celebrate our 12th anniversary. (Thanks Mom and Dad!) I have to tell you, though, I'm currently in need of a few hours to get away for a mini spiritual retreat...maybe an afternoon at a coffee shop or local nature trail with my Bible and journal in hand. I'll let you know when that happens.

Be sure to stop over at Layton Family Joy to see how other homeschool Moms get refreshed.

Praying that you find refreshment and rejuvenation for your coming homeschool year,

Easy-to-Make Fishing Game

2010-06-03T19:45:00.006-04:00

When I attended the MidWest Homeschool Convention back in April, I found these fun, horseshoe magnets put out by Learning Resources...
I purchased one thinking it would make a fun fish-to-learn game, and so far it's been a big hit with everyone.

Here's how I set it up...

What You Need:

-magnet (You can use any kind; I just thought the colored horseshoe was fun.)

-skinny dowel rod

-string

-index cards

-metal paper clips

-fish pictures cut out and laminated (*These are optional.)

What You Do:

-Make your fishing pole by tying one end of the string to the magnet and the other end to the dowel rod.

-On each index card write any fact or concept that you want your child to practice or review. (ex. math facts, states/capitals, numbers/number words, sightwords, colors, shapes, history facts, science facts, formulas - The possibilities are endless!)

-Attach one paper clip to each index card.

-Kids will love the game just using the index cards, but if you want to jazz things up a bit, you can clip a laminated fish picture to each card. (See picture below.)

How To Play:

-Spread the fish/index cards on the floor. You can place them with the question up or down - it's up to you.

-Have child use the fishing pole magnet to lift a card up off of the floor, then read and answer it.

-If they're going to be playing the game independently, then you need to make your questions self-checking in some way.

Example: For Sweet Pea I made a set of colors and color words. Each card had a different color splotch I had quickly scribbled on with magic marker. I attached the paper clips to these and spread them on the floor. Then I had a set of self-checking cards spread out on the kitchen table, each one printed with a color word in its appropriate color. (The word green was printed in the color green. etc.) Sweet Pea "fished" for a color splotch card, then matched it up to it's correct color word. She used the paper clip to clip each pair together. When she was done, I came in and checked her matches.

-Obviously if you're right there with your child, they can just tell you the answer to their "fish" question or fact. (And of course, they always enjoy it when we Moms participate, but it does make a nice independent activity too.)

-Also, several children can play this together - especially if you're doing it with them to verify the answers, listen to them read sightwords, etc.

In this photo, Sweet Pea is just fishing for fun, which kept her busy for quite awhile. The next time I pulled out the game for her, she did the color word cards mentioned above. (I did not attach them to the colored fish because this would have been confusing for her.) I think having the chance to "explore" the fish game first made it easier when I pulled it out the next time for her to concentrate on matching up the colors.

I can't emphasize how much my kids love snagging up these index cards with the magnetic fishing pole! I've had Superman fly through a set of math facts this way, when it would have taken him twice as long to answer them on a worksheet. If I want him to do math facts independently for me to check later, I just provide another set of cards, each one with an answer on it. He clips the fact to the correct answer and leaves them in a stack for me. Not nearly as painful as a worksheet! :)

Also, I've found that I can write up a set of index cards in just a few minutes the night before while watching a movie with my hubby, so it requires very little time out of my day to prep. the game. :)

Like I said earlier, you can use any kind of magnet, but if you're interested in the horseshoe-shaped magnets, I found them on Amazon. They're $16.00 for a set of six, but maybe you could find a couple of people to go in with you and purchase them together. Just an idea. :)

Let me know if you end up trying this. I'm interested to know if other kids love it as much as mine!

Maestro Classics

2010-06-02T19:37:00.000-04:00

Good music and good literature are staples in our home, and when you combine the two, you get a product that we've truly enjoyed - Maestro Classics.

CDs are a must-have tool in our homeschool. We listen to them not only for singing, dancing, and composer study, but also over lunch, while doing chores, and especially in the car. CDs are also a great way to keep my little ones occupied and learning while I'm working individually with another child.

When Maestro Classics' The Tortoise and The Hare arrived, I was excited because I had heard good things about their products. They have produced a series of CDs, each one featuring a classic children's story set to wonderful music performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Tortoise and The Hare contains 7 tracks featuring:

-Aesop's timeless fable, re-created in turn of the century Paris

-Background information about the story

-An explanation of the music (For example, the composer shows how he has used different instruments, themes and rhythms to represent the different characters in the story.)

-A chance for the whole family to sing-along on The Pretzel Vendor of Paris Song, including a track that gets you ready to perform.

A program booklet is included with each CD that contains learning activities related to the story and music, such as crossword puzzles, dot-to-dots, mazes, and word searches.

What I Liked

-The excellent quality of the music

-It's an entertaining CD that holds my children's interest.

-Some great learning about music and the orchestra is tucked into the fun.

-We had a blast performing with the "karaoke" track.

-My children have listened to it over and over again!

I have already purchased another title in the Maestro Classic series, Casey and the Bat, and have added several others to my Homeschool Wish List.

You can visit Maestro Classics to hear samples of the great stories and music from each of their albums including:

Peter and The Wolf

The Story of Swan Lake

Juanita, The Spanish Lobster

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

The Tortoise and The Hare

Each CD is priced at $16.98, but right now you can purchase 3 for $45.00 when you enter coupon code MAESTRO45 at checkout. Gift sets for Mike Mulligan and Casey and The Bat are also available for $24.99.

You can read more reviews of this product at The Old Schoolhouse Crew Review Blog.

Disclosure: I was not paid to write this review. I was given the product to use, and the opinions contained in this review are mine alone.

Living History: Civil War Reenactment

2010-06-01T16:00:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago Superman was invited to participate in a Civil War reenactment in my hometown in Georgia. He is a huge fan of history and all things military, so we knew we couldn't pass up such a great opportunity.

Needless to say, when we told him that we could make the trip down South for him to be a soldier boy, he was ecstatic. And it's always fun to visit Grandma and Granddaddy too. :)

The reenactment took place over a Saturday and Sunday. Day 1 was the Battle of Sunshine Church, which took place in July of 1864 several miles northeast of Macon. Union cavalry under General Stoneman had been ordered by Sherman to break off from main Union Army, which had seized Atlanta, and head for Middle Georgia. Their goals were to either liberate Union prisoners at Andersonville or destroy the Macon-Atlanta Railroad lines. Failing at both, Stoneman attempted to withdraw northwards back to Union lines around Atlanta when his force was intercepted by three Confederate brigades under Alfred Iverson. The Confederates had the upper hand in this battle, and Stoneman, along with 600 of his surviving men, surrendered late in the afternoon. Two of Stoneman' brigades managed to escape but were captured a few days later in Winder, Georgia, with a few men escaping back across the Chattahoochee River to the safety of the Union lines.

For this battle, our soldier boy fought for the Confederates.

The re-enactors were kind enough to outfit our soldier with a borrowed uniform, which he was so proud to wear.

And of course, these two wanted to dress the part of an 1860's girl. O.K., only one of them really wanted too, but they both were willing. :)

He heads into his first battle with the Major he was assigned to as a messenger.

He catches his first glimpse of us watching from the stands.

Notice that our soldier's ears are covered almost all of the time. We gave him earplugs, but they wouldn't stay in. We had our ears covered a good bit too. I can only imagine how many soldiers came out of the war having lost their hearing.

This is a terrible picture, but I wanted to show how thick the air was with gun and cannon smoke.

Day 2: The Battle of Griswoldville. He was also a Confederate in this battle, even though his uniform is blue. Apparently, the Confederate Army wore whatever they could get their hands on, especially late in the war. This battle was a tremendous defeat for the South.

Waiting with a fellow messenger for orders from their Colonel.

After the last battle, a cannon salute was fired in remembrance of those who gave their lives on both sides.

What made the day even more special was that Grandma, Granddaddy, and Great-Granddaddy came out to brave the heat and watch our soldier in battle.

Games for Writing

2010-05-29T22:44:00.008-04:00

I recently shared my review for Games for Math by Peggy Kaye.

This series of books is such a valuable tool in our homeschool that I'm reviewing three of the titles over at The Curriculum Choice. Here are the links:

Games for Writing

Games for Math

(Games for Reading will be up later this month.)

I invite you to head over to The Curriculum Choice to check these out. They are full of easy-and-quick-to-make-games that will spice up your language arts and math time. My kids have really enjoyed the games in these books!

You can also click on the button below to read more curriculum reviews and helpful articles written by a great team of homeschooling Moms!

Enjoy!

Portfolio Assessment: Book List

2010-05-26T00:26:00.005-04:00

Tomorrow I meet with the teacher who is doing our portfolio assessment this year.

In Ohio, homeschoolers can choose to either have their student take a standardized test or submit a portfolio with samples of work to an Ohio certified teacher.

For these early grades (kindergarten and second), I prefer the portfolio assessment. In third or fourth grade I will probably begin standardized testing.

Our "assessor" - as I like to call her when I find it necessary to provide certain children with extra motivation to do their work - is asking for a variety of samples from the children's work over the past year.

She also requested a list of books read in the past year. Due to lax record-keeping on my part, it's taken me the better portion of the evening to put it together, so I thought I'd share it here too.

Enjoy!

Unit Study Read-Alouds 2009-2010

Westward Expansion
Seaman’s Journey: On The Trail with Lewis and Clark by Patti Reeder Eubank
Lewis and Clark: A Praire Dog for The President by Shirley Redmond
How We Crossed the West: The Adventures of Lewis and Clark by Rosalyn Schanzer
A Picture Book of Sacagawea by David Adler
Apples to Oregon by Deborah Hopkinson
If You Were A Pioneer on The Prairie by Anne Kamma
Daily Life in A Plains Indian Village 1868 by Michael Terry
Chief Crazy Horse: Following A Vision by Larry Dane Brimner (American Heroes)
Sitting Bull by Lisa Trumbauer (First Biographies)
P is for Peace Garden: A North Dakota Alphabet by Roxanne Salonen

Apples
How to Make An Apple Pie And See the World by Marjorie Priceman
Apples, Apples, Apples by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
How Do Apples Grow? by Betsy Maestro
Johnny Appleseed by Stephen Kellogg
Rain Makes Applesauce by Julian Scheer
Apple Picking Time by Michele Slawson
Apple Cake by Nienke van Hichtum
Apples to Oregon by Deborah Hopkinson

Rocks and Minerals
Rocks in His Head by Carol Otis Hurst
Thank God for Rocks by Esther Bender
The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth by Joanna Cole
Everybody Needs A Rock by Byrd Baylor
Rocks in My Pockets by Marc Harshman
If You Find A Rock by Peggy Christian
Rocks: Hard, Soft, Smooth, and Rough by Natalie Rosinsky
Rocks! Rocks! Rocks! by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
Let’s Go Rock Collecting by Roma Gans

Fall and Thanksgiving
In November by Cynthia Rylant
Poppleton in Fall by Cynthia Rylant
Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin
Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving by Eric Metaxas?
Goody O’Grumpity by Carol Ryrie Brink
Over the River: A Turkey’s Tale by Derek Anderson
This First Thanksgiving Day by Laura Krauss Melmed
P is for Pilgrim: A Thanksgiving Alphabet by Carol Crane

Christmas
One Wintry Night by Ruth Bell Graham
Bright Christmas: An Angel Remembers by Andrew Clements
A Christmas Story by Brian Wildsmith
This Is The Star by Joyce Dunbar
The Tale of Three Trees by Angela Elwell Hunt
The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado
The Friendly Beasts by Tomie de Paola
Room for A Little One by Martin Waddell
O Come Little Children by Anita Reith Stohs
Who Is Coming to Our House by Joseph Slate
The Little Drummer Boy by Ezra Jack Keats
This is The Stable by Cynthia Cotton
The Pine Tree Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs
Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett
Gingerbread Friends by Jan Brett
Mouse and Mole and The Christmas Walk by Doug Cushman
Waiting for Christmas: A Story about the Advent Calendar by Kathleen Long Bostrom
The Candymaker's Gift: The Legend of the Candy Cane by David Haidel
The Christmas Troll by Eugene Petersen

Easter
The Parable of The Lily by Liz Curtis Higgs
Benjamin’s Box: The Story of the Resurrection Eggs by Melody Carlson

Knights and Castles
The Duchess Bakes A Cake by Virginia Rahl
The Knight And The Dragon by Tomie de Paola
Saint George and The Dragon retold by Margaret Hodges
The Cookie Tree by Jay Williams
Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess, Page by Richard Platt
You Wouldn’t Want to Live in a Medieval Castle by Jacqueline Morley
The Making of A Knight: How Sir James Earned His Armor by Patrick O’Brien
The Best Book of Knights and Castles by Deborah Murrell
Marguerite Makes A Book by Bruce Robertson
A Medieval Feast by Aliki
Knight: A Noble Guide for Young Squires by Sir Geoffrey de Lance
Knights and Castles by Mary Pope Osborne
Days of the Knights: A Tale of Castles and Battles (DK Eyewitness Reader)
by Christopher Maynard
You Wouldn’t Want to Be A Medieval Knight by Fiona MacDonald
Coat of Arms by Catherine Daly-Weir
Castles by Stephanie Turnbull (Usborne Beginners)
The Squire and The Scroll: A Tale of The Rewards of A Pure Heart by Jennie Bishop
The True Princess by Angela Elwell Hunt

Games for Math

2010-05-15T11:31:00.005-04:00

While I'm trying to get back on the blogging wagon, I thought I'd share my latest post for The Curriculum Choice.

Early on in our homeschooling I heard about a series of books containing learning games by a veteran teacher/tutor named Peggy Kaye. I started using her Games for Math several years ago and just recently purchased Games for Writing.

I can't say enough good things about these books. They are jam packed with terrific, no-hassle teaching games that my kids love!

I invite you to head over to The Curriculum Choice and see my review for Games for Math. The Games for Writing review will be posted toward the end of this month.

If you've never visited The Curriculum Choice, I think you'll like it - lots of good info. written by a great team of homeschool Moms!

On the Personal Side...

2010-04-20T21:17:00.002-04:00

Last night we returned from a whirlwind trip to Florida to celebrate the life of Kurt's beloved Aunt Marilyn, who passed away last week. It was an emotional weekend, but we are so glad we were able to go and be with dear family whom we love so much.

Life has really "happened" to us a lot in the last year. We've had loved ones to pass away, others to go through serious illness, and have dealt with other personal struggles, including the ongoing threat of Kurt losing his job. God has been faithful to walk with us through all of this and to remind us of what's truly important in life.

I'm telling you all of this because it's going to affect my blogging to a certain extent. Up until now, this blog has mainly been about homeschooling. Yes, I've occasionally written about other topics, but I've not truly left my comfort zone to write about more personal issues. I feel like God is nudging me to open up a bit more on here about some of the things I've been dealing with and some of the lessons He's been teaching me.

Also, I want to mention here that back in January I talked with the wonderful folks that are in charge of The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew. I explained to them some of the issues that I had been dealing with, and asked to be taken off the crew. They were so very supportive and graciously let me off the hook. I did tell them that as soon as I was able, I would finish out reviews for any products I had received. I am now at a place where I can jump in and finish these up, so over the next few weeks, you'll see several reviews here. I'm excited about many of these products, so I hope you'll find the posts helpful.

So...you won't see any drastic changes around here - just a tendency to open up more about the nitty gritty of my real life. And I'll still be posting just as much about our homeschooling adventures as I always have!

Thanks for reading!

He Is Risen!

2010-04-04T23:20:00.002-04:00

But Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"

"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."

Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).

Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "

Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.

~John 20:11-18

Praying that you and yours have had a blessed Resurrection Sunday.

MidWest Homeschool Convention

2010-03-31T22:20:00.010-04:00

Are you going???

I am and I'm incredibly excited about it.

The convention will be in Cincinnati, Ohio, April 8-10...That's next week!

I've attended the last two years, and it always breathes new life into this homeschool Mama.

To see more details and to register, visit the convention website.

It's very reasonably priced, and there are some great speakers and workshops scheduled.

Here are the speakers I hope to hear when I'm not in the huge vendor hall...

•Amanda Bennett

•Katherine Levison

•Carol Barnier

•Karen "Spunky Homeschool" Braun

•Valerie Bendt

•Cathy Duffy

•Barb Cash

• Susan Wise Bauer

•Doug Phillips

Now to figure out my game plan for which workshop to go to and when. :)

Let me know if you're going to be there - I'd love to meet you!

One More Easter Item...

2010-03-29T23:05:00.000-04:00

In my last post I forgot to mention one of our favorite books to pull out at Easter time...

This is a beautiful story about a boy who lives in Jerusalem and his encounters with Jesus throughout the week before Jesus' death and resurrection. It was written to go along with the Resurrection Eggs that I mentioned, but it is also a wonderful stand-alone read.

May you and your family have a blessed Holy Week.

Easter Books and Activities

2010-03-25T23:53:00.007-04:00

Easter is quickly slipping up on me!

I thought I'd take just a minute and repost my article on Resurrection Eggs...
We're pulling ours out tomorrow!

Also, here is our Easter unit we did three years ago along with some fun we had with bunnies - lots of sweet memories!

How are you and yours celebrating Easter?

And the Winners Are...

2010-03-22T22:48:00.002-04:00

Marci Jo wins the HWT Printing Power workbook.

Edwena wins The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling.

Congratulations, ladies! Please email me with your mailing addresses, and I'll get your prizes out to you.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Spring Cleaning Giveaway! :)

Spring Cleaning Curriculum Give-away!

2010-03-19T23:33:00.008-04:00

Spring is in the air, and I am loving it!

We've spent lots of time outside this week, but I've also been busy inside our house doing some decluttering.

So...I'm doing two give-aways as a part of the Spring Cleaning Blog Hop hosted by The Curriculum Choice.

First up is The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling by Debra Bell (2001 edition). I'm pretty sure this is the first homeschooling book I ever purchased. It covers a ton of information, and the author is funny and encouraging. It's like new.

Next is a like new copy of Handwriting Without Tears' Printing Power workbook. We use HWT, but I bought this level accidentally, and we won't be needing it.

Just leave a comment on this post letting me know which drawing you'd like to enter. For bonus entries into your preferred drawings, you can follow and/or subscribe to Song of My Heart and leave a comment letting me know you did. :)

Winners will be selected by random.org on Monday, March 22nd at 10 AM.

Don't forget to leave your email addy or blog address so that I can get in touch with you.

Oh, and if you've done some curriculum spring cleaning yourself and want to participate in the blog hop, click on the button at the top of the post.

Have a great weekend.

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: St. Patrick's Day Edition

2010-03-16T01:00:00.001-04:00

I am very pleased to be able to share this edition of the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival with you. It's chock full of inspiring posts that are going to be a real treat for you, so sit back and enjoy!

By the way, I know Miss Mason was not Irish, but I could not resist sprinkling in some vintage St. Patty's Day greetings since the 17th is right around the corner. :)

Nature Study

Barb shares some breathtaking photos and interesting finds from her family's recent hike in which they focused on the Douglas Squirrel as a part of the Winter Series Challenge for Mammals.

Lynn at Eclectic Education writes about making nature study a priority and even shares some helpful free resources with us in her article titled Nature Studies.

In Gilcrease Orchard Study, Shannon of On This Glorious Homeschool Journey reveals the vegetable treasures she and her sons found and sketched at a local orchard. What a delightful nature study!

Hodgepodgemom at Homeschool Highlights shares a fun nature study that her children completed in Outdoor Hour: One Small Square. This is a great activity and lots of good pictures have been included which will inspire you to try it.

Join Jill at Children In the Midst as she and her children enjoy their first nature walk of the year together in a post titled Pine Villages.

Science

Barb at Harmony Art Mom shares how she uses textbooks in a Charlotte Mason education in her article Making Apologia Science Texts Work for Our Family. Barb has also given us some real nuggets of wisdom here concerning helping our child work through disinterest in a particular topic.

Pamela from Blah, Blah, Blog shares a neat science experiment that takes an unexpected turn in Spillin' the Beans. I want to try this one with my own budding scientists.

In Rocks the Charlotte Mason Way, Jimmie from Jimmie's Collage shares how her 5th grade daughter made use of living books along with several other resources to make real connections of her own about rocks and the rock cycle. I love all of the learning that took place here! Jimmie includes some helpful rock links and resources as well.

Living Books

MasterpieceMom has learned that reading aloud Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder can result in some yummy fun in the kitchen. Read all about it in Farmer Boy = Doughnuts.

Nancy at Sage Parnassus shares how her eight-year old is understanding and enjoying the reading of one of Shakespeare's works in The Point Hath Gone Missing. She points out the importance of children hearing the bard's original work and that it's not so much what Shakespeare says but how he says it.

Narration and Writing

Bugs, Knights, and Turkeys in The Yard shares a rollicking and hilarious school-time adventure that resulted in a vivid narration of the Battle of Yorktown. How to Know When They Really Get It is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face!

Jamie from Jamie's Rose Cottage shares with us a delightful tale written by her 9-year old daughter in Creative Writing - another post guaranteed to make you smile!

Handicrafts

Angie at The One Thing provides us with a treasure trove of meaningful activity ideas and informative, how-to links in Handicraft/Life Skills Challenge #8. I'm printing this out for my planner so that we can try making one of these handicrafts later in the week.

Hodgepodgemom shows us some of the lifeskills that her children have been learning in Lifeskills Challenge. This is something I want to focus on more, and there are some great ideas in this post to help me get started.

Music and Art

The Beauty of Pastels is a sweet story and a delightful, do-able art lesson all wrapped up in one. Hodgepodgemom writes about Nana sharing her special talent, as she teaches her grandchildren how to paint with pastels. A precious read.

Dawn from My4Sweetums writes about her family's challenges and triumphs with composer study and shares some wonderful tools that have worked well for her children inMusic Appreciation.

Charlotte Mason Potpourri

Keri at Sunny Scholars shares a thought-provoking post, Habit is Ten Natures. She shares what she's learned from Miss Mason about habit training and provides helpful tips for us as we strive to train our own children.

Holistic Homeschooler gives us her Overview for the new school term which her children will begin in April. I was inspired by the format of this overview and am thinking of using this idea when it's time to plan again. There are also several titles included in her overview that I'm curious to check out.

Finally, I hope that you'll find some ideas for nurturing yourself in my post, A Bit of Mother Culture.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this edition of the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival. Your writings have inspired me, as I'm sure they will others.

If you are interested in submitting a post to the next CM Carnival, just click on the button at the top of this post.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day to you all!

A Bit of Mother Culture

2010-03-15T22:14:00.008-04:00

Charlotte Mason never used the term Mother Culture, but she was a strong believer in mothers infusing themselves with calm and serenity by having "courage to let everything go when life becomes too tense, and just take a day, or a half a day, out in the fields, or with a favorite book, or in a picture gallery..."

Karen Andreola, one of my favorite homeschooling authors, coined the term Mother Culture and says this about it:

"When a busy homeschooling mother takes part in Mother Culture she safeguards her enthusiasm, so she will be better able to cope with her responsibilities. To partake in Mother Culture is to feed herself with the Word of God, with ideas from books, nature, art, music, etc., thus taking care to keep growing spiritually and mentally. If there is such a thing as the joy of childhood, there is also such a thing as the joy of motherhood..."

Mother Culture is something I have been trying to make more time for lately. Sometimes I am able to leave the children with my husband or a sitter for several hours, but more often I might indulge myself in a few minutes of something as simple as sitting out on our porch and stargazing after the children are in bed. These moments always leave me refreshed and better able to carry out my ministry of motherhood.

I thought I'd share a few of my favorite "Mother Culture" experiences with you...

-Birdwatching from my kitchen table with a pair of binoculars and my favorite beverage...before the children are up or while they're playing.

-In the spring I enjoy taking walks through our yard and looking for any new green shoots poking up through the earth or any new flowers that have bloomed.

-I already mentioned I love to go outside after dark, sit on the porch and stargaze or just listen to the sounds of the night. This ministers such peace to my spirit.

-Spend even half an hour of a pretty day just sitting at a local park or walking a nature trail and soaking in the sunshine and all that nature has to offer.

-Steal away for a couple of hours to a favorite bookstore or coffee shop and enjoy a good book.

-My husband often works a late shift, and when he does, I sometimes head to bed early and curl up with an enriching book. My favorite titles are well-written historical fiction, maybe because they are both enlightening and enjoyable to me.

-Attend my monthly homeschool moms support group. The fellowship and friendship of likeminded Moms always encourages me in this journey.

-Having a daily quiet time of prayer and reading God's Word. This nourishes my spirit more than anything else.

It's my hope to attend a symphony concert and/or visit our local art museum with a group of Mom friends sometime in the near future. I'll report back when this becomes a reality. :)

Are you able to make time for a bit of Mother Culture in your life? I hope that you have been inspired by some of these simple ideas.

Call for Blog Entries!

2010-03-12T09:46:00.004-05:00

Finally, my blog is up and running again...at the old address, but that's O.K.!

Next Tuesday I'm hosting the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival. If you have a blog post, past or present, that relates to Charlotte Mason's methods, I invite you to submit it to the carnival.

Anything having to do with nature study, artist or composer study, habit training, short lessons, mother culture, handicrafts, etc. is fair game. Don't be shy...we want to hear how you're applying CM methods in your homeschool!

Your entries can be submitted here. The deadline for submission is Monday, March15th, at 8:00 pm EST.

Thanks, and have a great weekend!

Please Pardon the Dust!

2010-03-10T23:11:00.003-05:00

Hi Everyone!

We returned home a few days ago from a three-week trip to Georgia to visit family. We enjoyed visiting with everyone, soaked in some sun and slightly warmer temperatures, took a couple of fun field trips, and even managed to do school while we were there.

I wanted to let you know that I've swapped my blog over to a custom domain, and in the process lots of things have gone all haywire. In fact, I'll be surprised if anyone is even able to read this right now. Most of my links appear to be broken, and currently I can't even view my main page. All that to say that I'm trying to contact Blogger and get things fixed as quickly as possible.

Thanks so much for your patience!

Kid Funny

2010-02-21T00:25:00.006-05:00

I overheard this while we were driving in the van tonight...

4 yr. old: God made me a baby and then I grew up to be a kid.

Me: That's right, now you're a big kid.

4 yr. old: Did God make the trees too?

6 yr. old pipes in here: Yes, God made the trees.

4 yr. old: Did God make the moon?

6 yr. old: Yes, God made the moon too.

4 yr. old: But how did He get up there to put it there?

6 yr. old: Talk to Mom.

What gifts they are - I love them so much!

Enjoy your gifts this weekend. :)

Valentine Favorites from My Reader

2010-02-09T23:00:00.001-05:00

Unbelievably, we have been hit with another round of something around here. I'm finally feeling better today, but now Kurt and two of the children are sick. We would really appreciate your prayers.

Here is my little collection of Valentines Day ideas I've been saving from my reader. There are some adorable crafts and cards along with a couple of fun games. Most of these aren't terribly complicated. We'll probably try a couple of the different ideas for homemade cards, and I usually do a Heart Scavenger Hunt with a goodie at the end for each child. Hope you find something fun to try with your family!

Valentines Day Countdown

Valentine's Day Surprise Ball...I really like this idea, and I think I'll use it as the little treat each child finds at the end of our Heart Scavenger Hunt. I think they'll be excited to unroll the crepe paper and discover each little surprise!

Air-Dry Clay Hearts...Air-dry clay (like Crayola Model Magic) is great stuff and lots of fun to use.

Ladybug Valentines
...These are adorable and were designed by the blogger's daughter - one creative little girl!

Handprint Valentine Hearts...I always enjoy crafts that are also keepsakes and reminders of those precious little hands!

Valentine Activity Baskets...What a great idea. Not sure I could swing a craft every single day of February, but the idea of offering your children several choices is nice.

Valentine Pancakes...My kids love it when I try to shape their pancakes into their initials, animals, or other shapes, but I am terrible at it! These squirt bottles are the solution I've been looking for.

Marbled Paper Valentines...Marbled paper is something I've been wanting us to try, and it would be make for a pretty Valentine card. This one is on our possible to-do list this year.

Heart Person...What a classic - I remember these from my student-teaching days. My girls will enjoy making them.

Thumbprint Hearts - Scroll down the page to see these framed heart keepsakes. They would also make sweet cards.

Crayon Valentine Heart Cards, and here are the Crayon Hearts she includes with the Valentines. I think the crayons are beautiful. I've got to get a heart shaped mold so we can try making these.

If I'm not back before the weekend, hope you have a fun Valentines Day with those special big and little people in your life!

I'm Back!

2010-01-27T20:56:00.002-05:00

Hope you're all doing well out their in blogland!

After two weeks of a broken computer, a hectic new work schedule for my hubby, and illness, I'm finally here again. :)

Because of all of this craziness, homeschooling has been a bumpy road for us the last few weeks, but this week I feel like we're finally settling into a routine again.

I plan to be back later tonight to post a review for a really neat product we've been trying out.

Praying for Haiti

2010-01-13T22:51:00.003-05:00

Tonight I'm sitting here watching the images of devastation and horror coming out of Haiti. When I see these people, who have suffered so much already, living through this earthquake nightmare, it is hard for me not to wonder why God would allow this. But I must hold to what I know to be true - He loves these people, He is in control, and He has plan that I can neither see nor understand, but it is a plan for good - not evil.

Samaritan's Purse is a trustworthy ministry that has a heart for showing God's love to the hurting. They dispatched a team just hours after the quake to help with water, shelter, medical care, and other emergency needs. Their focus will be on medical help, shelter, clean water, and hygiene supplies. An initial shipment of emergency relief items including rolls of plastic shelter material, hygiene kits, and water purification kits were flown into Port-au-Prince today.

If you feel led to donate even a small amount, you can do so at the Samaritan's Purse website.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-01-11T21:29:00.006-05:00

My week always seems to go more smoothly when I take time to make a meal plan, so here goes for this week...

Sunday: Spaghetti with Meat Sauce/Garlic Bread/Salad

Monday: Chili with Biscuits

Tuesday: Linguine with Clam Sauce/Garlic Bread/Salad *(See recipe below.)

Wednesday: Chicken and Rice Soup/Crescent Rolls/Salad

Thursday: Pad Thai/Rice/Kim Chee

Friday: Salmon Roll/Rice/Green Beans

Saturday: Leftovers (Chicken Rice Soup)

Here's the recipe for the Linguine with Clam Sauce. It's one of our favorites, simple to prepare, and even the kids ask for seconds!

Ingredients:
-half of an onion, chopped
-olive oil, 4 tbsp. (enough to cover bottom of saute pan plus a tad more)
-6 cloves garlic, minced (I use the pre-minced in a jar.)
-2 cans (10 oz. each) whole baby clams (Chopped will work too.)
-2 to 3 tbsp. dried parsley
-pepper
-1 package uncooked linguine

Directions:
-Boil large pot of water to cook linguine according to package directions.
-While water is heating, saute garlic and onion in the olive oil until onion is translucent.
-Add both cans of clams (including the liquid) to the saute pan.
-Add pepper to taste.
-Add parsley flakes.
-Continue heating (stirring occasionally) and bring to a boil.
-Simmer on low for 5-10 minutes.
-Serve over the drained pasta.

For more menu plans and some recipes too, click on the button at the top of this post.

Hope you enjoy some good family time around the dinner table this week!

Christmas Books

2010-01-04T21:05:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year! I'm still here...just trying to get over a cold and get back into some sort of a school routine.

Meanwhile, I'm moving our Christmas books from the sidebar and putting them here for future reference.

Hope that your 2010 is off to a great start!

Playing and Resting

2009-12-28T22:52:00.005-05:00

Our Christmas was relatively quiet and simple. Since we stayed at home here in Ohio, my parents travelled up from Georgia to celebrate with us, which is always nice. We attended our church's candlelight Christmas Eve service and returned home to enjoy our traditional "Low-Country Boil" and "Happy Birthday Jesus" Cake. The next day was spent amid three excited children playing with their gifts and taking joy in giving the grown-ups their gifts as well.

Over the weekend the girls and I took some sort of chest cold that throws us into fits of coughing, especially at night. I am praying for quick recovery, as I had several projects around the house I had planned on completing before beginning school again next week.

Meanwhile, we're enjoying just being lazy together here at home. Today as I rested on the couch the girls made delectable play-dough icecream treats for me with one of the gifts they received, and Superman stays busy working on the new Star Wars Lego set that Santa brought.

We're also celebrating (very lightly) the Twelve Days of Christmas, ending on January 6th, which was the way they did things in Medieval Times (our current unit study). More about that in another post.

Oh, and I'm reading this...

Havah is the poignant and vivid account of the first four chapters of Genesis as told through the voice of Eve. I've had a hard time putting it down.

I hope that you and your family are enjoying your Christmas break together!

Blessings,

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T18:07:00.002-05:00

Praying that you all have a blessed Christmas with your family and friends,
as we celebrate the birth of Jesus our Savior.

Blessings

Making Merry With Mickey

2009-12-20T20:10:00.003-05:00

We just returned from a wonderful week at the "happiest place on earth" - Disney World!

We were there Monday through Friday and hit three parks - Magic Kingdom (of course), Epcot, and Disney Hollywood Studios. Everything was all decorated for Christmas and just beautiful. One thing I like about Disney is that they play sacred Christmas carols along with other Christmas music over their sound system, and they don't mind putting up a manger scene or two!

We had so much fun, made some great memories, and took tons of photos - none of which I can upload right now, but I'll try later.

In the meantime, we're doing laundry, cleaning house, and getting ready for my parents to come tomorrow for Christmas - yay! We've got a couple of things planned for this week, but I'm really hoping we can settle in for some simple Christmas storytimes and do some fun baking in the kitchen together.

Praying that this blessed season is full of meaning for you this year.

Simple Christmas

2009-12-08T13:39:00.008-05:00

This Christmas finds us practicing for the church Christmas program and getting ready to go out of town for a few days before the holiday. So...we're keeping things simple around here this year. We're enjoying our regular traditions...

-Trimming the tree - Kurt always sets up a musical train underneath, which the kids love!

-Nighttime drives to see Christmas lights. There's nothing sweeter than those shouts of glee from the backseat, as they point out all of the different decorations to Kurt and me.

-Playing with our child-friendly nativity - we have a plastic one and a wooden one, and both get much handling. :)

-Reading lots of wonderful Christmas stories together, including a sweet little advent calendar book that tells a little bit of the Christmas story each day.

-On Christmas Eve we'll bake a Happy Birthday Jesus Cake to be eaten the next day, attend our church's Christmas Eve candlelight service, and return home to do a little Nativity play for Daddy, Grandma, and Granddaddy - complete with bedsheet costumes, stuffed animal props, dialogue, and music - very fun!

Some new things we've done/will do this year...

-One day I got out the tempera paints, some butcher paper, and some stamped paint rollers and let the kids make homemade Christmas paper. It was really quite easy, and believe it or not, minimal mess and cleanup. The kids really enjoyed it, and especially liked the fact that their creations were going to be used to wrap gifts.

-Since we are studying Medieval Times we will be attempting a gingerbread castle after we return home from our trip - feel free to wish me luck with that!

I also wanted to share our units and activities from Christmases past. These links will take you to some of our favorite traditions such as Christmas books, ornaments to make, a recipe or two, and pictures of the annual Christmas play we do at home for Grandma and Granddaddy on Christmas Eve.

Around the Manger Unit

Christmas Symbols Unit

Other Christmas Posts

Hope you're enjoying the making of some special memories with your children this Christmas season!

We've Got a Winner!

2009-12-01T20:01:00.004-05:00

Congratulations, Heather!

Please email me within the next three days at songofmyheartblog@yahoo.com with your four favorite scents
from Virginia Soaps and Scents along with your snail mail address.

Thanks to all of you for entering the contest and for visiting my blog!

Blessings,

Thanksgiving Crafts

2009-11-24T23:23:00.002-05:00

I was browsing through my Google reader tonight looking for something fun to make with the kids tomorrow. I thought I'd share some of the cute craft ideas that are out there this season.

Coffee Filter Turkeys - I have always wanted to do some sort of coffee filter art with my kids and have never gotten around to it. I'm thinking this will be my choice for tomorrow. We've got the supplies, and the kids will love squirting water to make the colors run together. Very pretty, too!

Pumpkin Turkey Centerpiece

Groovy Gobblers - If we were at home with all of our paint supplies, we would definitely make these pretty turkeys.

Turkey Scratch Art Drawing

These last ideas would be wonderful ways for a family to express gratitude in the days and weeks leading up to Thanksgiving:

Thankful Tree

Thankful Box

Thankful Clothespin Wreath

Our Favorite Thanksgiving Books

2009-11-23T23:30:00.001-05:00

Well, I did say you wouldn't hear much from me this week, we just arrived in Georgia tonight, and everyone's all settled in and asleep except for me. I'm wide awake because I took a long afternoon nap in the car.

It dawned on me that I haven't posted any of our favorite Thanksgiving books this year, so I decided to go ahead and do it even though we're only three days out from Turkey Day. Most of these are part of our Thanksgiving tradition, but I forgot to bring any of them with me! Hopefully I'll find a couple at the local library here tomorrow.

A delightful picture book showing the Indians and Pilgrims preparing for that first special feast. A favorite around here that we've read for several years now.

Funny illustrations tell the story of this old tune, as a family of turkeys travel to Grandma's for Thanksgiving - with a hunter in hot pursuit. This one always cracks us up!

I used this book in my first student teaching practicum. It's the story of a young girl name Maggie who lives with her Grandmother on a cranberry farm. Their special Thanksgiving dinner turns into a comical adventure as Mr. Whiskers and a smooth-talking city slicker vie for Grandma's attention - and her food! It wouldn't be Thanksgiving at our house without reading this fun tale.

This is one of my favorite versions of the Squanto story. We've read it for the last few years. It shows how God's hand worked in the life of Squanto. I never knew that Squanto traveled to Europe, heard the gospel, and more than likely became a Christian.

The illustrations are beautiful. The text would have been a bit much for my 4-year old, but just right for my 6 and 8-yr. olds.

This book tells the story of a real little girl who lived at Plimoth Plantation circa 1627. It is filled with wonderful photographs of Sarah and her family going about their day at Plimoth Plantation, the outdoor living museum of 17th century Plymouth, Mass. Also in this series are the two titles pictured below. All three really held my children's attention and are wonderful living history books.

I read Elizabeth Foss's review for this at Real Learning and was delighted when my library had it. It is out of print, but is a beautiful book that shows animals preparing for winter and people celebrating Thanksgiving. The illustrations make this one worth tracking down.

What are some of your family's favorite Thanksgiving stories?

A Thanksgiving Giveaway

2009-11-21T17:06:00.009-05:00

I don't often do giveaways, but the nice folks at Virginia Soaps and Scents, a company I reviewed awhile back and really do recommend, has offered to give one of my readers a sampler pack of their lovely bed and breakfast-sized soaps. The winner gets to choose the scents!

I really enjoyed using these yummy smelling, gentle, all-natural soaps. What makes these products even more special is that each bar is handmade, and the company is owned by a homeschooling family who became interested in soap-making after doing a unit study on Colonial Life in Virginia. How neat is that?!

Here's how to enter...

1. Visit Virginia Soaps and Scents, then come back here and leave a comment telling me your favorite product. Their site really is fun to browse, and with their reasonable prices it's a great place to do some Christmas shopping too!

For bonus entries you can do one or more of the following - after you've done step #1. :)

2. Subscribe to my feed (see left sidebar), and leave me a comment telling me you did.

3. Post about the giveaway on your blog, and yes, leave another comment. :)

4. Follow my blog and leave yet another comment!

***Please make sure you leave either your email or blog address so that I can contact you if you win! :)

So...you've got four chances to win. The contest will close Monday, Nov. 30 at 11:00 PM (EST), and I'll announce the winner the next day!

We're out of town for Thanksgiving, so you won't hear much from me this week except for a few reviews that I need to post.

Praying you each have a wonderful holiday with your family.

Blessings,

Join Me at Heart of the Matter

2009-11-17T20:38:00.009-05:00

I am very excited to now be writing for Heart of the Matter Online. I invite you to join me for my first article there, Fun in the Kitchen With Your Preschooler.

While you're there be sure to take a look around. It's a great site with lots of encouraging and useful articles!

Adoption Awareness Month

2009-11-15T16:00:00.001-05:00

November is National Adoption Awareness Month.

This is a special month for our family because we adopted our oldest daughter from China on November 2, 2004.

People often tell my husband and myself that we are such a blessing to Giggly Girl because we brought her home from China. We always tell them that it's really the other way round. God blessed us with her, and she continues to be a blessing to our family five years later.

The care and adoption of orphans is one of God's highest priorities. I encourage you to listen to His voice on the matter. Is He inviting you to experience the miracle of adoption? Or maybe He is asking you to become involved in some other way. There are multiple ways that we as Christians can carry out God's mandate to care for the orphan and widow:

-Pray for them.
-Give financially.
-Volunteer with an orphan care ministry.
-Take a mission trip to serve at an orphanage.
-Mentor orphaned children in your community.
-Become a foster parent.
-Adopt a child who is waiting for their forever family.

As you consider how God may want to use you in the life of an orphaned child, I encourage you to watch this Videostream of Steven Curtis Chapman and Friends' Live Event, "Orphan Sunday". This event was sponsored by Steven Curtis Chapman, Show Hope, Focus on the Family, and Family Life to raise awareness of the more than 140 million orphans worldwide. You'll hear moving stories, testimonies, and music, including the amazing Children of the World Choir, which is made up of orphans from around the world. I was so glad I watched!

Here are some of my favorite adoption links, which will provide you with more information about orphan care and adoption:

Show Hope

Maria's Big House of Hope Video

The Call to Adopt - Best-selling author Karen Kingsbury's story of how her family came to be blessed by the miracle of adoption.

How to Adopt

Cry of the Orphan Adoption Resources

If you have already experienced the miracle that is adoption or are involved in some other way in the life of an orphan, I'd love to hear your story.

Blessings,

Why Do I Blog?

2009-11-09T22:49:00.000-05:00

So what is the purpose of blogging?

Some "irl" friends recently asked me this question, and as I was talking to them about it, it dawned on me that I ought to - well, you know - blog about it!

Different people blog for lots of different reasons, but here's my list:

-To keep a record of our family and homeschool adventures - a sort of online scrapbook or journal.

-To share what we're doing with family and friends who live far away. All of our family members live down south, and they just love to see pictures of the kids - can't you tell?!

-To meet, encourage and be encouraged by other homeschool Moms. I've made some wonderful bloggy friends over the last couple of years and have even had the chance to meet a few in person - very fun!

-To share our homeschool plans and resources in hopes that someone will find something here that will keep them from having to reinvent the wheel.

-To sharpen my writing skills - or at least to maintain them! I think that writing somehow exercises my brain in a way that nothing else can, and I enjoy processing things through my fingers on the keyboard.

-To provide myself with some accountability. If I write out plans to do something on my blog then I'm much more likely to do it because I "virtually" committed to it.

-To share how God has blessed me with a wonderful family and the privilege of learning alongside them. May He have the glory for everything in this blog and in my life.

Hope you have a great week!

Free Christmas Resource

2009-11-05T21:28:00.004-05:00

Hope everyone out there in bloggy-land is having a good week.

We're sticking to the 3R's in school this week, as I do some major decluttering and house projects that have been on my to-do list for months.

I just opened up a little something in my inbox that I wanted to share with you. If you receive The Old Schoolhouse's email newsletter, then you've already seen this.

It's a special free digital Christmas edition of The Old Schoolhouse magazine. I just briefly scanned it, and there are some nice goodies in there. I'll especially be using several of the freezer meal recipes they've included.

Click here to enjoy!

Blessings,

ABC Teach: A Review

2009-11-03T21:52:00.008-05:00

If you've ever done a Google search for any type of free printable, then you've probably stumbled upon ABC Teach. It's a website for educators that offers over 5,000 free worksheets and activities.

The membership site provides access to over 35,000 materials, clip art, and the ABC Tools feature. Membership is priced at $40 per year or $70 for two years.

For this review I was given access to the membership site for one month. In searching the members only area, I found several things that we used in our apple unit - a word search, a coloring sheet, and a shape book. My favorite aspect of the membership was the ABC Tools feature, which allows you to create your own printables such as:

-handwriting worksheets (in many different fonts)
-word searches
-shape books
-crossword puzzles
-ABC sorts
-math worksheets
-Bingo games
-Tutorials to help you create your printables

See everything the ABC Tools feature can do here.

Because I am not a huge fan of worksheets, I would probably not get my money's worth from an annual membership, but if you do use worksheets on a regular basis, you might possibly benefit from the members only site. You can learn more about what an ABC Teach membership has to offer here.

Click on the Crew Banner below if you'd like to see more reviews of this product.

Happy Adoption Day!

2009-11-02T21:41:00.006-05:00

Five years ago today your Daddy and I were standing in the Civil Affairs Office in Changsha, Hunan, China. It was 10:20 in the morning. Four other couples were there with us, and all of the wives were wearing pink. We were all becoming parents...again.

The air was electric. Nervous anticipation mingled with joyous excitement. The women sat on wooden benches while the husbands stood. Subdued conversation, the sound of pacing shoes on the wood floor, and the occasional click of a camera were the only sounds in the room. I watched the clock on the wall.

Someone came to the door of the large conference room where we waited and said something in Chinese to our guide. He turned to tell us that you and your friends would be arriving in twenty minutes. I readied our paperwork. Daddy checked the video battery again.

Five minutes passed - an eternity. Fifteen to go. I began to fiddle with our paperwork again when suddenly and quietly there appeared at the doorway a group of five Chinese ladies, each with a bundle in their arms.

For a puzzling split second I tried to figure out why this little group was coming into the room, when it dawned on me that the bundles in the ladies' arms were not bundles at all. For just a moment things seemed to happen in slow motion as everyone realized that you and your friends had arrived - early!

I said something to Daddy. I can't remember exactly what, but it was something like "She's here!" In a flurry of excitement he and I quickly began to scan the faces of the babies looking for you. You and your friends were dressed in many layers of clothes, and our most current photo of you had been taken four months prior, so it took us a moment, but pretty quickly we found you in that little crowd.

Tears filled my eyes. I instinctively stepped towards you, though we had been told ahead of time that we would have to wait until our names were called. Daddy had already started up the video, and I began to take pictures of you.

You were there in your nanny's arms, looking quite serious and taking everything in. You also looked tired, and we found out later you had been up since 5:00 in the morning and had traveled over three hours by bus to make your appearance. Of course, you were worn out.

Moments passed. Other parents were called forward. We waited.

Finally, someone called out your name, and your nanny stepped forward. Our guide held out his hand for our paper work, and I gave it to him. He handed it to someone else. They looked at it and nodded to us. That was my cue. I walked to your nanny. My heart was pounding. Smiling, I slowly, gingerly held out my hands to you. I knew you would be confused and scared, and you were. Your nanny gently placed you in my arms, smiled at you through tears, and then walked back into the little crowd.

You felt so light in my arms. You didn't cry, but the tears were flowing down my cheeks and Daddy's too. We would never be the same, and we were glad.

We talked softly to you and held you close. You were still taking it all in, stoic and brave. Most of the other babies were crying by now, and eventually you did too. I tried giving you a bottle to comfort you, but you weren't hungry. Instead you cried for just a little while and then fell asleep in my arms.

I will never forget that day.

I will never forget riding in the bus back to the hotel, holding you - Daddy and I couldn't take our eyes off of you. Our Chinese guide began to sing, and your Daddy and I joined in, tears streaming down our faces...

You are my sunshine.
My little sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are gray.
You'll never know dear,
How much I love you.
Oh please don't take
My sunshine away.

I will never forget later on that night when we laid you down next to us, and you slept peacefully through the night.

Your Daddy and I thanked God that day for the miracle He had done in creating you and bringing you to us.

We thank Him today for that same miracle, and for the joy and love and laughter that are you.

We love you, our sweet Giggly Girl.

Yummy Apples

2009-10-31T23:00:00.001-04:00

You can't do a unit on apples without whipping up something in the kitchen.
There are so many possibilities...apple turnovers, apple cider donuts, apple-dapple cake, caramel apples - yum! We settled on apple sauce and a pie, but finishing up our apple study will not prevent us from attempting the other recipes at some point.

We had the most fun with this apple peeler-corer-slicer tool that a friend of mine loaned us. The kids didn't want to stop. This thing is definitely on my Christmas wish list.

Enjoying a looooonnnng peeling

Mmm...can't beat cinnamon and sugar

We had never had homemade applesauce before, and boy was it tasty!

While we enjoyed our snack we read a fun, nonsensical story called Rain Makes Applesauce. It really is a silly read, but what makes it a great book are the wonderfully whimsical illustrations. With every reading you notice something new in the detailed drawings. It's also a Caldecott Honor book.

Later in the week had more fun with the apple peeler, corer, slicer toy - I mean tool - and peeled a bunch of apples for a pie and for our apple taste test. I'm having trouble posting the pie picture tonight - hopefully tomorrow it will work.

One more apple post, and then I'll share about our new unit we're starting this week!

Have a great Monday!

Irons Fruit Farm: A Family Tradition

2009-10-30T21:43:00.010-04:00

For our family it's not really fall until we've made our annual trek to Irons Fruit Farm.
The first time we went was when Superman was about two years old, and we haven't missed a year since.
In fact, most years we go at least once in the summer too. This year we didn't but made up for it by making another trip to Irons with our homeschool group - more about that in another post.

Anyway, we love this farm. It's not nearly as commercialized as some in the area, although its weekend crowd seems to grow larger each year. We enjoy going during the week and taking a picnic or snacking on the farm store's apple cider donuts and cider.

It's such a pretty, peaceful place and holds a lot of fun memories for us. Here are a few from this year...

On the hayride headed to the corn maze. Can you tell it's a sunny day?

The corn maze takes about 45 minutes to go through, and let me tell you it's not easy. Superman did a great job of map-reading with his Dad, and those two got us through without any problem.

O.K., this picture makes me tear up a little bit. I've taken this same photo of the kids on this old cannon carriage thingy since before Sweet Pea was born. They are growing up too fast!

For the girls, feeding the animals is always a highlight. Superman likes to pet them, but does not enjoy getting his hands slobbery. :)

This goat loved Giggly Girl. She must have fed him three or four handfuls of feed.

One of Sweet Pea's favorite animals has always been the pig. Each year we go to Irons she has to go and have a chat with her pig buddies. The same ones have been there each year, I believe, and she's always enchanted with them.

Thanks for letting me share our trip to the farm with you - Happy Fall!

Virginia Soaps and Scents

2009-10-29T22:42:00.007-04:00

A few weeks ago I received a package in the mail that smelled entirely too wonderful to be curriculum. It was a sampler of bath and body products from Virginia Soaps and Scents, a company owned and operated by the Spargurs, a homeschooling family located in Southeastern Virginia. The Spargur's interest in soapmaking began as a homeschool project about colonial soapmaking and soon grew into a passion and entreprenurial adventure.

My sampler package included:

Handcrafted Olive Oil Soaps in three signature scents - Coconut Lemongrass (my favorite), Fresh Orange, and Oatmeal, Milk and Honey

Shampoo Bar

Laundry Soap Kit

These products were an absolute treat. Here are a few things I liked about them:

•All of the products are hand-crafted from all natural ingredients with no added chemicals. The natural aspect of these products is a huge selling point for me since we have recently begun to eliminate as many chemicals as possible from our household.

•Everything in my package smelled lovely and looked so pretty and colorful - I felt quite pampered, and who doesn't enjoy that?

•These soaps are made the old-fashioned way. Each bar is hand-cut, which means no two bars are exactly alike.

•The bar soaps had a nice, rich lather (a result of the generous amount of coconut oil used in each bar) and left my skin feeling soft - not dried out like after using a regular bar soap.

•The Shampoo Bar was a bit difficult to get used to at first, but I like the conditioning effect it had on my hair. Cleaning and conditioning in one fell swoop saves me time and money.

•The Laundry Soap Kit makes two gallons of soap, pricing out at 4 to 7 cents per wash. I know how difficult it is to find all-natural laundry products with no dyes or chemicals, and I've never found any that are this budget-friendly. I will definitely be purchasing more Laundry Soap Kits.

•When you consider that all of these products are beautifully hand-crafted and all-natural, the pricing for all of them is extremely reasonable. (The soaps are 4.5 ounce bars which are priced at $4.50 per bar, 3 bars for $12.00, or 10 bars for $35.00.)

•Finally, I just love the fact that this is a family business. The Spargur's do everything from coming up with new soap recipes to hand-crafting the products to doing their own shipping, accounting and taxes. I think it's wonderful to be able to support that type of home-grown endeavor while receiving a superior product for your money.

Virginia Soaps and Scents has made a new customer out of me. Here are several more of their products that I can't wait to try:

Gourmet Soap

Total Body Bars (including one for kids!)

Lotions, Scrubs, and Powders

Lip Balm

Holiday Fragrances such as Pumpkin Spice, Wild Bayberry, and Peppermint

They also offer many other bath and body products, both scented and unscented. They even make products for pets!

You really must visit Virginia Soaps and Scents and check out these products for yourself. They would also make special gifts for friends and family this Christmas.

To see other reviews of these products, you can visit The Old Schoolhouse Crew Blog.

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How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World

2009-10-28T20:07:00.002-04:00

For the last two weeks we've been learning all about Apples! Our spine book for this unit was an old favorite of ours...

What a fun story this is! It's about a young girl who heads to the market to buy the ingredients for an apple pie, and ends up taking a trip around the world instead. We used several of the Five in a Row lessons for this story. There's so much geography and science to be learned from this book, and it's just a great read. :)

We also...

-Did a taste test of several different varieties of apples and used this mini-book from Homeschool Share to record our findings.

-Read Apples, Apples, Apples by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace - this is a great informational book that held even my three year old's attention. Then we guessed the number of seeds in an apple, counted them up, and made this mini-book - also from Homeschool Share.

-Read How Do Apples Grow? by Betsy Maestro and labeled the parts of an apple using this HSS mini-book.

-Drew apples in our nature journals.

-Read and narrated Johnny Appleseed by Stephen Kellogg. We also used some of the mini-books from the free Johnny Appleseed lapbook at Homeschool Share.

You'll find these along with the rest of our apple books in my right-hand sidebar.

Tomorrow I'm telling the Apple Star Story - you can find a copy of it here - and then we'll slice an apple in half to see the star and make apple prints.

We also cooked up some yummy apple treats that I'll post about separately.

Hope you're having a great week!

More Free Apple Resources from Homeschool Share:

The Apple Pie Tree lapbook

Apples to Oregon Unit Study and lapbook/notebook resources

Sue Patrick's Workbox System: A Review

2009-10-26T23:03:00.008-04:00

When I purchased Sue Patrick's Workbox System this past spring, I had no idea that I would have the chance to review it as a member of The Old Schoolhouse Crew. Now that I've been using this system for a few months, I'm happy to report that we are still reaping the benefits of it, which I highlighted in my original workbox post.

The Workbox System schedules your student's school day and organizes your materials at the same time with the use of numbered, clear plastic containers. Each activity, subject, or assignment that your student will be doing in a given day is to be distributed among these plastic boxes - one activity per box. Whether the activity is a worksheet to complete independently, a science experiment to do with the rest of the family, a book to read to Mom, or an educational game to play with a sibling, it goes into one of the boxes. The student completes the activities in the boxes, and when they are all empty, then his school day is finished.

Benefits

•My children can see what needs to be accomplished on a given day. No more of the age-old question, "Are we done with school yet?"

•I have been motivated to pull out all of the fun educational games and materials that we never had time for in the past.

•Excitement! My children enjoy seeing what fun activities are interspersed throughout their day, and it motivates them to perservere through the not-so-fun stuff.

•Using this system has helped me to be more intentional about planning activities specifically for my preschoolers and setting aside special individual and group time with them.

•All of my materials for the day are organized and ready to go. No more running to another room to grab a book or something else we need.

•We get much more accomplished in a lesser amount of time.

•I am motivated to stay on top of filling the boxes before the next day starts because I see how smoothly our day goes when the boxes are in use.

•My children are becoming more independent and responsible for their learning.

Possible Drawbacks

•Because we are a Charlotte Mason family, and also somewhat relaxed, I really want learning to be a lifestyle in our home - not a regimented list of tasks or assignments to be checked off. I have tweaked the boxes to fit our needs and maintain an atmosphere of gentle learning. For example, if we're doing a science experiment together as a family that inspires us to run off on a rabbit trail, causing us to have to leave some boxes undone, that's fine. I do not push to just "make it through" all of each child's boxes everyday. My goal is to ignite and fuel my children's love of learning - not to finish everything in those containers everyday.

•I am naturally a rule follower, a by-the-book sort of girl, so I have had to be careful not to let the workboxes rule me. I don't want to fill them with busy work or anything unmeaningful just for the sake of filling them up. Mrs. Patrick's system suggests using eight to twelve boxes, and I have never needed to fill more than six. I imagine that as my children grow older, if I continue to use this system, I will fill more of the boxes. But for now, six is plenty.

•In her book, Mrs. Patrick mentions her opinion that there is too much talking in some homeschools. This does not fit well with my philosophy of home education. I know that every family's homeschool looks different, but I've always felt that one advantage to having my children at home was to encourage their questions and curiosity. In our home, less learning would take place if we had a quiet, classroom atmosphere. Yes, there is definitely a need for respect and a certain amount of order, which I'd like to think we have in our homeschool. But...I also love to hear my children's chatter, questions, ideas, and conversation as we work and learn together.

I think there are some wonderful idea's in Mrs. Patrick's book that could benefit many home educators. If you are interested in finding out more about her system, I encourage you to visit the Workbox website where you can view sample pages, purchase the e-book that retails for $19.00 or the hard-copy version for $19.95. Either purchase includes access to downloads which will be helpful in setting up your system and getting started.

To see more reviews of this product, visit the Crew Blog.

Sunday Psalm

2009-10-25T23:23:00.006-04:00

Have you ever had a time in your life where everything felt like a struggle?

Well that's where I am right now, dear readers. Nothing too serious...life just feels hard and stressful.

This too shall pass, but in the meantime I felt led to share a Scripture that really spoke to me tonight...

1 How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?

2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?

3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;

4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.

6 I will sing to the LORD,
for he has been good to me.

~Psalm 13

When David penned this Psalm, I'm pretty sure he was dealing with a whole lot more than I am, but I am still able to relate to these words. Though he obviously felt that God was taking too long to answer his cries for help, he still placed his trust in God's steadfast love and goodness toward him.

What an encouragement this is to me, and I pray that it will be to you as well.

Praying you have a blessed week,

Menu Plan Monday - A Little Bit Early!

2009-10-24T23:00:00.002-04:00

Wow! It has been sooo long since I participated in Menu Plan Monday, and there is a reason for that...

I haven't had a plan.

Not for many months now. Don't worry, though. We have been eating around here. It's just been sort of fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants in the cooking department.

Well, it won't be this week because I've actually planned out a week's worth of meals, and boy does it feel nice!

I'm posting this a couple of days early because I just went grocery shopping today for next week, and if I don't post this while it's on my mind I'll forget to do it. :)

Here goes...

Monday - Venison Chili (Courtesy of my dear hubby - he makes the best chili.)

Tuesday - Ranch Chicken with rice and broccoli

Wednesday - Chicken Pie and a salad

Thursday - Crockpot Beef Stew

Friday - Salmon Roll with Peas and Cream of Celery Soup

To see other menus and some recipes too, click on the button at the top of the post.

September Nature Club: Trees

2009-10-22T23:00:00.002-04:00

Over the summer I began thinking how fun it would be to be part of a nature club. I emailed the ladies in our homeschool group and was excited when five of them expressed an interest in starting one. My bloggy friends Melissa and Cindy inspired me with the idea of starting a group, so I asked them for tips on the kinds of things they do at their nature clubs, and they were so helpful. You can find a wealth of nature study information at both of their blogs and at their new company's site, NaturExplorers.

Since we just had our second meeting this week, I figured it was time to actually post pictures from the first one we had back in September. :)

Our focus was trees and leaves, but we also had lots of fun exploring a creek in the nature park where we met.

We started out by going on a nature walk and looking not only for leaves but anything we found interesting.

Then we had everyone find a leaf, making sure they knew which tree it came from. We paired everyone up with a partner, they swapped leaves, and then had to guess which tree their partner's leaf came from. The younger ones needed the adults to help them, but they seemed to enjoy it.

After getting their original leaves back from their partners, the kids made leaf rubbings, measured the circumference of their tree, and did rubbings of their trees' bark. I brought along several field guides that we used to identify our leaves.
We used this notebooking page to record all of the information.

I wasn't able to take many photos of our nature walk and tree activities because I was leading the meeting, but I did manage to snap a few of the kids exploring the creek.

My friend's daughter working on her notebooking page.

Can you see the round, green thing in Sweet Pea's hand? It's a black walnut she found on our nature walk, and she held onto it for nearly the rest of the day. I thought she was going to fall sleep with it that night. :)

After we finished up learning about trees, the kids must have played in the creek for over an hour. It really was the highlight of the day.

My friend Kim, who always seems to be able to find the coolest things in a creek, found this baby crawdad...

...and this little garter snake.

It was so much fun to explore God's creation with other families.
I look forward to telling you about our October meeting soon!

Educaching: TOS Review

2009-10-21T23:45:00.003-04:00

Treasure hunts, technology, and the great outdoors...put them all together, and what do you get? Educaching.

Have you heard of geocaching? It's basically the use of a handheld GPS (Global Positioning System) to search for hidden caches containing a logbook and small trinkets. There are more than 800,000 caches around the world hidden by geocaching enthusiasts. Educaching takes the idea of geocaching a step further by creating scavenger hunts that are centered around a student's learning.

Educaching is a curriculum written by Jason Hubbard, a fifth grade teacher, who came up with the idea of educational, GPS scavenger hunts after going on his first geocaching outing.

The manual contains five sections:

•Teacher Training - familiarizes the teacher with equipment needed, how to hide caches, and provides activities to orient teacher and student with GPS use. *This section was especially helpful to me in becoming even more familiar with our GPS device.

•Lesson Plans - Contains twenty lessons from beginner to advanced levels focusing on math and science while integrating other core subjects.

•Worksheets - Reproducible forms for students to record their information on while out in the field. (Also, a CD is included with the manual that allows you to edit and print these worksheets as needed.)

•Cost-effective ways to acquire a GPS - Grant-writing techniques and other ideas are included.

•Beyond the Basics - Other ways to use GPS devices

The curriculum was designed for 4th through 8th grade but could be adapted to the needs of other ages and grade levels.

A Sample Lesson
Several money riddles are hidden in caches (containers) around your yard (or a large, open space). The students must use the GPS to find the caches. They then read the riddle, solve it, place the correct amount of money inside the container, and return it to the teacher. Once all of the caches are found and all of the riddles are solved, students return to the classroom where they complete extension activities based on the money riddles.

My Thoughts
Please keep in mind that my oldest child is in second grade, so I did not attempt any of the lesson plans with my children; however, I think that these lessons will be great for us a few years down the road, especially since we have dabbled in some geocaching and have really enjoyed it.

The lessons are a bit wordy at times, mainly because they are written with whole classes of students in mind. (Ex. "Remind students of group expectations and appropriate outdoor behavior.") A lot of outdoor preparation (without the student) is involved, which might not always be easy for a homeschooling Mom. (Maybe Dad could be in charge of preparing and hiding the caches?) Also, some of the lessons require a group of students in order to be completed. However, many of these lessons could be adapted for family or individual use, and I think that they provide a unique way to practice math, science, and a myriad of other skills. On top of all that, you're getting outdoors with your kids, and that's always a plus.

The author states in his introductory letter to teachers that his desire is for this curriculum to serve as a springboard to help educators get started in educaching. Even though these particular lessons are too advanced for us right now, Mr. Hubbard has inspired me to come up with some simpler educaching lessons, as we continue to become more adept with our GPS device.

The Educaching manual retails for $32.00 and can be purchased at the Educaching website. (This price includes the CD-ROM of field worksheets.)

To see what other Crew Members thought about this product, visit the Crew Blog.

Sarah Books: TOS Review

2009-10-20T22:44:00.000-04:00

Members of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew had the opportunity to review Sarah's Wish, one of three books in the Sarah series by Jim Baumgardner.

Sarah's Wish is the fictional story of Sarah, a twelve-year old girl whose mother helps runaway slaves in the years just prior to the Civil War. Sarah is orphaned when her mother dies in an accident. Granny, an elderly friend of Sarah's mother, takes Sarah in and loves and cares for her, as she tries to find a family for the girl. Granny shares Sarah's desire to help slaves who are seeking freedom, and the pair encounter danger and adventure, as they carry out their mission. As much as she loves Granny, Sarah's one wish is to be adopted by loving parents.

I enjoyed this book. Although my eight-year old son would have attended well to this chapter book, I did not read it to him. I knew that Sarah's losing her only parent at the very beginning of the story would be upsetting to him.

Mr. Baumgardner has woven mystery, adventure, history, and faith into this story. It is exciting at times and heartwarming at others. I did feel that the inclusion of Granny's country dialect slowed the writing down occasionally, but overall I enjoyed the story and look forward to finding out what happens to Sarah next in the follow-up novels, Sarah's Promise, and Sarah's Escape.

This would be a good book to accompany a unit on the Underground Railroad or the Civil War. It would also be a memorable family read-aloud. And if you think you're children aren't quite old enough for some of the themes that I mentioned, it makes for a nice bed-time read for Mom.

Sarah's Wish retails for $10.99, but if you order online you can obtain the special author's price of $9.99 and receive free shipping and handling. You'll also receive an autographed copy if you order online.

Sarah's Wish in audio book form (4 CD's, approx. 4 hours listening) retails for$24.99, but again, if you order online you receive the author's price of $16.99.

To learn more about the Sarah Books along with information about the Underground Railroad and other interesting historical facts, visit the Sarah Books website.

To read more reviews of this book, head over to the TOS Crew Blog.

Disclaimer: This product was received free for purposes of review. No other payment was made. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Rocks and Minerals: Our Favorite Books

2009-10-17T23:00:00.001-04:00

We've finished up our study of rocks and minerals, and I have to say that at the beginning of the unit I never guessed how fun and interesting it would be. Even though we've moved onto Apples and Seeds, we're still having fun collecting, identifying, and even painting rocks. I have a feeling this will be an ongoing interest around here for all of us.

I'm taking our book list down from the sidebar and putting it here for future reference. These were the best of the best culled from a huge stack of books at our local library. I've given summaries of our very favorites, but we really enjoyed reading and re-reading all of them.

Rocks in His Head is the true and inspiring story of the author's father, whose life passion was learning about rocks and minerals. He owned a filling station in the days prior to the Great Depression. He lost everything as a result of the hard economic times, but he continued to provide for his family by taking any jobs he could find. His love of rocks eventually led him to be hired as the janitor at the local science museum, which eventually sent him to college and paved the way for him to fulfill his lifelong dream of "doing something with rocks". We thoroughly enjoyed reading this heartwarming story, and learned a thing or two about rocks along the way. We used some of the great ideas from the Homeschool Share unit for this title as well.

This was another favorite of ours. Thank God for Rocks is the story of a man who spends all of his money to purchase a farm. After moving his family in, he learns that his is the rockiest soil in the county, and a discouraging neighbor tries to convince him that nothing will grow there. This man remains full of hope despite hardships and prays each day thanking God for the rocks on his land. God honors his prayers and attitude of thankfulness, and blesses the farmer and his family in beautiful ways. This was a hope-filled story that demonstrates the joy that comes from being thankful.

Mrs. Frizzle and her Magic School Bus are always a hit no matter what science topic we're learning about. In The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth, "the Frizz" and her class take a field trip to the center of the earth, learning about the different layers and types of rocks along the way. (Note: There are references to the earth being millions of years old.)

Have a great Sunday!

Good News Express from Passkeys Foundation: TOS Review

2009-10-16T21:40:00.003-04:00

The Passkeys Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by Mr. Russell T. Williams. The foundation promotes character education through its many programs and products.

Members of The Old Schoolhouse Crew received titles to review from Passkeys' Good News Express series, which is aimed at preschoolers.

I received Thanks, But No Thanks written by Tony Salerno and illustrated by Tim Davis. This is the story of Finney the bear, who doesn't see the point in saying thank you to others. After a series of unfortunate events, along with the help of a friend, the little bear finally learns the value of showing your thankfulness.

The colorful illustrations of the cute, furry animal characters were appealing to my preschoolers, as were the catchy tunes on the accompanying CD, which includes an audio version of the story and a few songs. The storyline held my children's attention for the most part. The writing contained quite a bit of dialogue between characters, which doesn't always make for a riveting read-aloud for the preschool set. However, I think that this story could serve as a fun reminder for little ones to say thank you to others.

The hardback book and accompanying CD retail for $7.95.

The Passkeys Foundation offers many more character education products, which you can view at their website.

To see more reviews of this product, visit The Old Schoolhouse Crew Blog.

In Search of a Ginkgo

2009-10-13T23:35:00.004-04:00

Life is going to be super busy for the next couple of weeks, so other than some review deadlines I have to meet, I won't be able to blog as much as I'd like.

So...I thought it would be fun to re-run a few of my favorite posts.

The following post was originally written two years ago this November, and since it's "fall-ish" in nature, I figured this would be a nice time of year to share it again...

We did a really fun unit on leaves a few weeks ago, and ever since then, the kids have been noticing and pointing out different kinds of leaves and trees and getting really excited when they see some lingering fall color.

During our unit, I showed them a picture of a ginkgo leaf and tree and told them that it was one of my favorites. So as we looked at all the many oaks and maples in our area, we kept our eyes on the lookout for a ginkgo. After a week or so of looking (and not finding one), we began to wonder if maybe they don't grow in our state. I went online and we found that indeed they do, and that there are some in our downtown area (at least a 30 minute drive from us). It finally got to the point that whenever we were out in the van, the kids would check out nearly every yellow-leafed tree we passed at 40 mph, shouting, "Is that a Ginkgo? I think I see a Ginkgo!" Alas, they were only maples.

So last Friday, while my Mother was here for a visit, I decided we would make an impromptu trip downtown to find this elusive tree. I went on Mapquest and printed off some very intricate directions to a park, which I had never heard of, that was supposed to have some ginkgo trees. The kids (and Grandma and I) were so excited about our adventure, and we all piled into the van with me praying that our efforts would be rewarded. As we neared downtown, I got off at the exit and prepared to follow the directions, knowing that we had several miles to go before we reached this off-the-beaten-path park. Well, immediately after getting off the interstate and crossing under a bridge, I looked ahead and on my right was a very tall, very bright yellow tree. I said, "Mama, I think that's a Ginkgo!" We were on a very trafficky road, so I made a quick pass by and glanced over just long enough to see whether or not it had the distinctive fan-shaped leaves. It did! I whipped into a gas station, turned around, and headed back.

The kids were in a tizzy of excitement by now, and thankfully, God had placed this tree right next to a back entrance to a cemetery so that we could easily get off the busy road and see it up close. We all jumped out of the van into the very cold air, and ran up this sloping hill to what was one of the prettiest ginkgo trees I've ever seen. It was as if we'd struck gold! The kids were ahead of my mother and me scooping up handfuls of the bright yellow fans. The leaves were soft and pliable, unlike most of the dry, brittle leaves we have collected this year. Of course, we took some photos and brought home some leaves, which we pressed between sheets of wax paper.

It thrilled my heart to see my children so excited over part of God's creation. I pray that their love of nature continues to grow and deepen.

This was such a fun day, and of course, having Grandma along made it all the more special. I love looking back at these photos and seeing how much the kids have grown.

Thanks for strolling down memory lane with me!