We're Done (Don't Tell The Kids!) - Collage Friday

Welcome to Collage Friday!  Have you finished your school year? We have {technically} completed our 180 days, but I didn't tell the kids.   We are going to keep schooling for another two weeks and then take a break for a few weeks.   Our summers are always scheduled around swimming classes, so I squeeze other things in between those.

I'm trying to get everyone to a good stopping point in math, Writing With Ease, and The Story of the World, then we will continue bits and pieces during the summer.   Learning is a lifestyle and it never technically "ends".  

 { Have you entered to win the Maestro Classics CD?   The giveaway goes until Sunday evening. } 

A few of my blessings this week:

* breakfast with a friend who has decided to homeschool ~ I loaned her two of my favorite books:   A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning, and  Seasons of a Mother's Heart, 2nd edition.      I believe these two books should be in every homeschooling mother's library, and they were my favorite resource this week.  

* the kids being so excited about history - GMan has declared he wants to be a Plague Doctor for Halloween this year.  Ummm... ok? We also read DK Biography: Joan of Arc, which was VERY enlightening.  I love the informal narrations the kids do for their dad each night... such a valuable assessment tool for me, too. 

* having the chance to guest post at MODsquad... about helping your daughter cultivate Godly friendships?

* sharing my friend Monica's thoughts about Homeschooling as a Calling... she put into words what I could not

*the strength to work out 4 times this week - most of those times were swimming, which I truly enjoy

* special times with friends for each of my children... now that our co-op has ended they don't get to see their friends as much, and we have to make more of an effort to get together

1.  Bible lanyards and memorization pins from church... GMan's class memorized the 10 Commandments and Miss B's class memorized the 23rd Psalm and the Lord's Prayer.   I love our church and the true family it is for us.  

2.  I began Hello Mornings this week. Why have I not done this before?  I'm enjoying the Love Like Him Bible study and accountability online.   I've been up before 6 a.m. every morning this week - that's good for me!

3.  The kids and I are memorizing 1 Corinthians 13 (goes along with my Hello Mornings challenge).   I've referenced the chapter so much during our week, and I've found the Holy Spirit inserting it into my thoughts so often.  The week has been peaceful and productive because of that, I know.  

1.  Cookies baked by Miss B - I went to swim laps at the YMCA on Saturday and when I returned she had made these wonderful frosted Peanut Butter Cookies all by herself.  Happy Mother's Day!

2.  Mother's Day - I'm so blessed by my own mother and my children.  I look at my daughter and see so much of myself.  This is humbling.

3.  Lots of music this week.  I love that her piano teacher requires music theory!  Miss B's piano recital is tonight - can't wait to hear her play and to hear some other great young pianists, too.  Speaking of music, did you get the printables I made for you about the orchestra and band? 

1.  I have turned over more household jobs to the kids the past few months.  GMan is learning how to unload the dishwasher... and Miss B is responsible for one meal each day (breakfast is easy!), while GMan always walks the dog and takes out the trash.  

2.  I can't stop my guy on the piano now - woo hoo!   He loves to practice and has been making up his own music, too.  It's interesting, though - he's a very bright boy and things comes easily to him, but the piano is more challenging.   What intrigues me is that he is largely working through this beginner book on his own, and it's going well for him.  I would recommend Piano Adventures Lesson Book, Primer (by Faber & Faber) for self teaching piano.  

3.  In math both children have learned about The Metric System.  We have been measuring everything, converting liters, meters, etc...   I'm going to write a post about this soon, because I've found some living math resources and fun activities.  I'm not normally a creative math person, but I like this!  We read Millions to Measure, which was a favorite this week.  

4.  We have a chair on our front porch where the kids like to sit and eat popsicles, watch birds, or whatever strikes their fancy.  Last week while I was sitting with GMan, a hummingbird came right up to the flowers.  It sounded like a bee and we both instinctively ducked our heads.  When I looked up, the hummingbird was about a foot from us - amazing.

I've also added some of our favorite resources in an Amazon box at the bottom of the blog... but I'm inserting it into today's post so you can get a feel for what my favorite things are:

How was your week?  I'd love for you to join me.   You don't need a formal "collage",  just a collection of pictures that tell us about your homeschool week.    Be sure to grab the button below, sign the linky, and then visit others on the list to offer encouragement and gain ideas.  

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*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

Homeschool Motivation & Cello Wars!

Lots going on this week....

• Sometimes you just have a few magical homeschool days in a row.  That happened here this week.  My daughter decided she wanted to learn a certain pop song on the piano.  She printed the music and spent several hours learning it... it is hard for her level of playing, but she DID IT. 

As I type she is in the piano room with her friend making a video of the song.  We've been having a little trouble with motivation recently.  I know this just goes with the age, but I was so glad to see her really EXCITED about something.  This creativity and inspiration wouldn't have happened if she was in school.  There would have been NO TIME to just sit at the piano and create. 

• Have you seen the new tab here, "Music Notebooking Printables"?  I'm adding to these printables weekly, hopefully to encourage you to incorporate music in your homeschool.   

• I've been neglecting science recently (to everything a season, right?) ... but we've started something new -- Elemental Science.   You'll hear more about this, but this classical driven science curriculum seems to fit us VERY well.  

• We've also been working on a few home projects - nothing major, but getting some painting done, blinds hung, estimates, etc...   The kids are learning valuable lessons in price comparison, dealing with workmen, and patience.    I'm also learning to deal with a bit of a mess (this is SO HARD for me!) and exhibit some patience myself.   

On to the collages...

1.  GMan's last baseball game ~ followed by a pizza banquet and trophies.  He had a great season and still plays a solid first base.  He is even giving ME batting lessons in the backyard.  

2.  Playing Bible Drills in Sunday School ~ this is such a fun game and a great way to learn your books of the Bible.  This basically is the kids holding their Bibles up (called "drawing their weapons"), then the teacher calling out a verse.  The kids repeat their verse and then find the verse as fast as they can.   My husband has been teaching in this class of 4th-6th graders all year, and next year he and I will be teaching the class together.  I think it's going to be a lot of fun!  

3.  We're ALL trying to be more healthy.  My husband is incredibly fit.... he works out almost daily and is very self-disciplined.  I have cut way back on what I'm eating and we got to the YMCA to swim laps this week.  While there the masters swim coach asked if I wanted to start swimming on their team - it meets at a time that is very convenient for me, so I think I'm going to give it a try!   I swam quite competitively growing up and it something I enjoy doing.  I am not doing anyone any good by being a "homeschool mom martyr",  know what I mean?  It's time I got myself in gear and back in shape.  

4.  After the used book sale last week I still had some more books to get rid of, so we donated them at a local book drop.  I'm thinking that I might have a few more boxes to take next week, too.

1.  We played a LONG game of Monopoly last Sunday afternoon.  This was as good as an entire week of math lessons in my opinion.  It was a very close game... but it's so funny how results wind up very close to our money personalities in real life!

2.  We listened to a wonderful free version of Tom Sawyer this week while completing history review cards for Story of the World.  I love the review cards... my kids wanted to turn them into a little book.  Hopefully I'll have pictures to show you soon.

AND, on that note:  If you have any questions about how we use The Story of The World, please leave a comment and ask.  I am planning a post about how we use this history curriculum.  I don't see us changing history curriculums anytime soon.  I'm not claiming to be an expert, but we are finishing our second year of using SOTW and it works so well for us.  

3. Read-alouds for a chapter in the SOTW about Marco Polo and the Mongols.  We read Daisy Comes Home, The Emperor and the Nightingale, and The Five Chinese Brothers.   

1.  Oh my goodness ~ Black Bean and Corn Tostadas were my favorite meal this week.  You can see the recipe via Plan to Eat.

2.  One of my piano students invited us to her high school band concert this week.   We went, and it was really good!   It was a good chance for me to talk to the kids about the difference between a band and an orchestra.   If you're interested, I'll be putting out a little notebooking set on that very subject next week!  

3.  In a basement cleaning spree I found a lot of my childhood books.  GMan loved reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and he also found my entire boxed set of Paddington Books.  I have challenged him to read all five by the end of the month.  He loves any kind of challenge with a time limit - I love that little stinker.  

4.  Something else you'll be hearing more about in the future is Clever Dragons.  (I've already blogged about Always Ice Cream) This online community for boys has been such fun.  GMan's favorite thing (via Clever Dragons) this week was Cello Wars -- I loved the cello playing light sabers!   Clever Dragons definitely wins our favorite resource this week! 

Remember that Interest Led Music Study of the music of Star Wars/John Williams?     

In fact... I've embedded the video for you here.  I just love it.  My little guy wants to play the cello now (squee!!)

How was your week?  I'd love for you to join me.   You don't need a formal "collage", just a collection of pictures that tell us about your homeschool week.    Be sure to grab the button below, sign the linky, and then visit others on the list to offer encouragement and gain ideas.  

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The Week of Books! ~ Collage Friday

The theme of the week was BOOKS!    Our local homeschool group had our used book sale.  I was a seller, shopper, and volunteer.  What a great morning! The sheer number of books and homeschooling moms in one place would give you the shivers... most people I saw had a  glazed-over look as they entered the gym... so much potential learning crammed into one tiny space!  

{ I was so busy organizing books and searching for books that I forgot to take a single picture!   I did take some as I tagged my books... see what a neat spreadsheet system we had this year?  I just entered my books into the spreadsheet and the tags were automatically created. }

I'm also so very thankful for our local homeschool group and how hard so many people work to make events like this possible!

As you can see, I got a lot of the classics, a wonderful art game, and our next volume of The Story of The World (in mint condition!).  Lots of the books I bought aren't pictured, either! The break down was as follows:

                   Amount Made at Book Sale (by me):  $77.00

                   Amount Spent at Book Sale  (by me): $25.00

                                                                           ________

              Profit (for ME!)                                 :   $52.00

We also grabbed a few books at our local library's book sale, as well.   Paperbacks were .50 and hardbacks were $1.00.   I had $10 in my wallet and let the kids go to town with the $10 limit.  They did great.   So, all in all a great book week! 

On to the collages.   From left to right:

1.  Two exciting things happened this week.  I got a new laptop (which will be wonderful all things blogging, homeschool, etc...).  My husband took me to "look" on Sunday and I loved one so much I said "Can't we just get it today?".    My husband said he was planning to surprise me for Mother's Day -- my response was "I'm not one for those Hallmark holidays in the first place, so why not just make it Mother's Day all year round?"  (I'm pretty clever, right?)  

You will also see  the website on the computer is "In a Nutshell".  This is a blog run by About One ~ I am writing a couple of posts a month for this site now.   I have never thought of myself as a "writer" per se, but I'm now adding that word to my self descriptive vocabulary.   

2.  My daughter's favorite book from the past few weeks is Knight's Castle.  She finished it this week and then I (the mean mother) required a book report.   We've been having some motivation (ahem) issues around here.  I understand this is age related, but we must keep pressing through and keeping our expectations high.  Interest Led Learning is great, but you have to have INTERESTS to make that possible.   I'm gently suggesting interests!  We think so much about moms losing motivation in these spring months, but I think the same goes for our children as well.

* I do have to say that Miss B has expressed an interest to learn about England, so I think I'm going to put together an Adventure Box about England and let her explore.  

3.  GMan is going strong with his piano lessons from me.  I wondered how he would do when we first started and he has amazed me... loving to practice and a very natural sense of the steady beat and musicality.   It is my greatest joy to hear both of my children practice each day.   (Do you remember what I said about piano lessons?)

4.  Both kids have still been a bit under the weather this week.  I've been trying to make lots of healthy smoothies for them.  The favorite this week was the Cinnapear Smoothie!   

1.  I have a very neat spice cabinet.  (It is probably one of the only neat places!)  Guess what?  It was a lesson in ALPHABETICAL ORDER!   

2. After doing three chapters in The Story of The World this week we read Who Was Marco Polo?.  I love all of the "Who Was" books and this one was no different.   While I was reading my little guy hopped up next to me on the sofa with his LEGO bow he had made ... that stinker built a Mongolian Composite Bow.   I adore homeschooling.

We also did some music notebooking with history - download the Medieval Music Notebooking pages for yourself!  

3.  Another history picture - map work of Marco's journeys across Europe and Asia.  

Our favorite resource this week was a series of videos we discovered at the library.  Countries Around The World are short videos that take children throughout a country - and they are guided by another child.   We have watched Iceland, and checked out United Kingdom and Italy (in honor of Marco Polo).  

All in all it was a good week... trying to get my little guy feeling better after walking pneumonia and just tying up loose ends of the school year kept us at home most of the week and not doing anything "fun".   Next week I'll be the fun mom - I kind of missed her this week.  

I had an email from my own mom this week that praised me for doing a good job with my own children and told me to keep up the good work on my blog.   That praise meant so much to me... and in an instant I realized what it feels like to be one of my children... how much they crave praise and how they must feel when they get it from me (which isn't enough).    

How was your homeschool week?  Please feel free to link with me... no formal collages necessary, just a compilation of photos that tell the story of your adventures in learning.   

As always, please grab my button from the sidebar or link back to this post in some way.   Please visit the person who has linked ahead of you to offer encouragement and gain ideas.

         

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