Collage Friday - The Week of the Literature Fair

What a blur... that's all I can say about this week!  


TONS of learning occurred, but my house is messy and we have had no schedule whatsoever.  The Homeschool Literature Fair is today and we have been knee deep in finishing projects and completing research!


I have to admit I've been a little crabby because of the lack of "structure" - I think this is what one would call a week of personal growth? (There was one day this week that was glorious - read about it here.) 




{ The news here in Georgia this week was that President Obama has let the state out of meeting its requirements for No Child Left Behind.  Is this a good thing or a bad thing?  I'm not really sure, and to be quite honest with you I have stopped keeping up with the political nonsense that surrounds the precious lives of the nation's children.   Perhaps I should be more informed - but I really like to keep my blood pressure down.  }

I saw this cartoon (snagged it from Facebook) and thought about what is going on right now in most public schools.  Amid all of our chaos here this week it put things into perspective! 

Now for the collage...

1.  GMan helped me grocery shop on Sunday afternoon.  We needed many things for his literature fair research (it's all about chocolate and The Chocolate Touch!).  I was so proud of him keeping up with the list.   I use Plan to Eat, which makes shopping so easy!


2.  Miss B spent a large chunk of the weekend painting her school for her project (The Wheel on the School).  I am so pleased with her independence and creativity.  This book will be remembered by her for the rest of her life.  I'll blog about their projects more fully next week.  


3.  I loved finding the Old Fashioned Hershey Bars for an activity we did with fractions.  Who knew there was a Hershey Bar Fractions Book?!?!   


4.  At the library GMan found a Lego book - The Lego Ideas Book.  Wow!   What a find.  He and Miss B stayed up late one night working on their own house (which came from an idea in the book).  As I type this, GMan is in his room trying to build a Lego chess set.   I love it!  Ever since I received a poor evaluation from G I've been trying to let him lead the way a little more with his learning - and it's working. His first Lego WeDo class is Monday, so we will make the trek to downtown Atlanta for the afternoon - I can't wait to see how he likes it, and Miss B and I will get to have a little time together while he's in class.   


5.  We made molded chocolates (for the literature fair AND Valentine's Day) and used this handy little book by Wilton.  We have also worked our way through Download N Go's Chocolate Challenge.  What an awesome resource!  It wins Favorite Resource This Week! We have done another Download N Go study and will be doing more!  


6.  More research... Nestle's Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Henri Nestle was an interesting chocolatier!  


7.  The kids helped pack a Valentine basket for a family in need (with 11 children)!   Miss B and I went to Wal-Mart over the weekend and stocked up.  She realized how much more we needed to buy than we usually do just for the four of us. GMan's Sunday School teacher delivered the basket to the family on Valentine's Day.  We had a nice dinner out for Valentine's Day - with not a single picture taken.  I told you my week has been a little crazy. 


8.  This one just made me smile.  For a few days we had very cold weather - a baseball practice for 90 minutes in 30 degree weather is tough, but apparently the boys did great. GMan was giving me his game face - he claimed it wasn't cold at all.


9.  Some computer schooling was done this week.  We are reviewing K5 Learning and a favorite thing was completing enough spelling words to earn a La Linnea movie.  They are pretty cute (and I didn't tell my kids you can just watch them on YouTube... I figured if they would spell 50 words to watch a three minute movie, then FINE!). 


How was your week?  I hope you can make a collage and link up this week.  By Sunday of each week there are lots of wonderful collages, so be sure to keep checking back.  I am gaining SO MANY IDEAS from my fellow bloggers!  Thank you!

*linking with Susan, for Favorite Resource this Week; Kris, for The Weekly Wrap-Up, and Dawn for Camera Phone Friday.

Collage Friday - They're Trying to Pay Off The Mortgage!

It's been a busy week.  

Highlights for the kids included co-op starting on Thursday.   I cannot begin to express what a BLESSING our co op is to us.   The friendships, support, educational opportunities, and love of God are astounding.  

The highlights for me included working out with a fellow homeschool mom (doing water aerobics!) in the middle of the week, having lunch (at co op) with two great moms, and attending a Mission of Motherhood book club meeting.   The friendships I have made (and continue to make) enrich me in a way nothing else can.  Hands down, the homeschool moms in our community were my favorite resource this week!  

1. Knitting!  I'm helping teach a class at co op - "Femininity".  It is a group of middle grades girls.  We knit and chat.   I love it!  

2.  We've been learning a little about the Medieval catapult.   Dad and GMan spent several hours working on this Erector catapult.  It was complex, but such a great learning experience!

3.  I am painfully aware how quickly Miss B is growing into a young lady.  Here she is with her hot chocolate and wet hair.   We met friends at the YMCA early one morning.  The moms did water aerobics and the kids swam.  It was great, except that the POOL HEATER WAS BROKEN.  Granted, the water was still 78, but it was about 40 outside.  We warmed up once we got moving.  (I think)

4.  Writing With Ease - This writing program is phenomenal.  I am watching both children's narration, dictation and copywork skills soar.  It is rigorous and challenging, but it is worth every extra effort.  We do WWE Tuesday-Friday like clockwork.  It never ceases to amaze me the calming influence a routine has on all of us.

5.  Simple Machines - The kids attended a Simple Machines class put on by Bricks 4 Kidz.   It was quite good.  They worked together to create simple machines.  My children made a ferris wheel with a motor.  They came home and were fiddling with their Legos using a lot of the terminology they had learned in class. 

6.  The children are on a mission to PAY OFF THE MORTGAGE!  Yes, that's right - pay off the mortgage.  They are convinced they can make a video and send it to America's Funniest Home Videos and win $100,000.  (I'll keep you posted on how that works out for them.)

*I never would have thought the iPod Touch would be such a great thing for them.  Miss B got one for Christmas, and she has loved it.   This week the kids made a video of themselves reciting all of the US Presidents, and also singing the Preamble to the Constitution.  We have packed it full of educational apps (and a free texting program for texting aunts and a couple close friends).  We are all addicted to Words With Friends, Hanging With Friends, and Scrambled With Friends.  I KNOW these word games are beneficial to my children ~ and my husband and I!  

7.  Miss B made smoothies for us this week out of her new cookbook.  The strawberry smoothies were especially good!   She is gaining more responsibility in the kitchen and enjoys the freedom and creativity. 

8.  We are knee deep in Medieval history now.  We are basing our read-alouds on this time period and I'm picking up any and every book we can find.  This particular book I found at a consignment shop for $1.00.  Can't beat that.   

9. The picture is dark because it was after dark... two excited girls roller skating.   Miss B and one of our dear homeschooling friends were skating and chatting the night away.  This little girl is one of my piano students, too... I love the precious friendships that are formed because we are homeschooling.

How was your week?

If you'd like to link with Collage Friday, please grab a button, make a collage, and tell us about your week.  Can you include any helpful links for us or great ideas? 

Happily Linking:

Collage Friday - A Hands On Week

This was a week of hands-on learning.   
It was one of those weeks where everything just "clicked".  I'm thankful, because not all weeks are like that!
I didn't snap any pictures of faces this week ~ I just noticed that!  I think this is because I took pictures of what the children were DOING.  
If you missed the Top Ten Tips for Homeschoolers, be sure to read the post and leave your advice for my friend who is beginning her homeschool journey.   


1.  Working with Math U See blocks - we are really taking a step back with math and reviewing a lot of things before moving on to harder concepts.  I think Math U See is going to be a great fit for us... and if you keep watching the blog you'll be excited by a Math U See opportunity I have for YOU.
2.  My current read:  Fall of Giants is historical epic fiction and I am LOVING it!  It's interesting to learn a lot more about WWI through a riveting story.  The book is 1,000 pages and I'm about half way through - I'm trying to make time each day to read while the kids read quietly, too.
3.  Our Chinese bowls - we learned about lacquer and how it was popular in China, Japan and Korea.  We used air dry clay, painted the bowls with acrylic paint, and added cherry blossoms and Chinese characters with a gold paint pen.  We then made a mixture of white glue and water for the lacquer effect.   Story of The World gives excellent activity suggestions!  It wins the award for Favorite Resource This Week!  I pull so many read-alouds, activities, and recipes from the activity guide.  Without it I would be lost!  
4.  More Story of the World activities - this time mapping - with a brand new set of water color pencils.  These made mapping SO MUCH FUN!
5.  It was a particularly challenging spelling week for Miss B - the IE and EI combinations are tricky, but after typing the words, copying the words, and making colorful flashcards with the words, they have finally been mastered. Spelling Workout is an excellent curriculum. 
6. We completed Chapter 6 of Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day... all about mating and eggs/hatching.   We did several experiments with eggs - all taken from Steve Spangler.  This one (pictured above) was pretty cool, because no matter how hard we squeezed the egg, as long as the pressure was distributed evenly it didn't crack!  Miss B used the iPad to complete the notebooking pages.  I love how her research skills are developing this year.
7.  Lots of letter writing was done this week - did you read my post about it?
8.  Miss B is memorizing all of the US Presidents and the Preamble to the Constitution.  Her Constitution class at co-op starts next Thursday.   I've heard wonderful things about the class - all of the children will become Patriot Pals over the next 10 weeks!  
9.  We made use of time in the car to listen to one of our favorite CDs (that just happens to be performed and written by a good friend of mine from college - Mister Mark!).   His CDs are funny and informative.  Gman was running around the house singing "Go Galileo" tonight!
Not Pictured:
Read alouds:  The Chocolate Touch, The Phantom Tollbooth, Half MagicMemory Work each morning at breakfast:  Bible verse box, US Presidents, Preamble to the ConstitutionLots and lots of piano practice!Lots and lots of roller skating!

How was your week?   
Please feel free to link up a collage of your week below.  If you do, be sure to but the Collage Friday button somewhere in your post, or on your sidebar, and please visit the person who linked up ahead of you and leave them a comment.   We all put so much into our weeks with our children - it's nice to get feedback! 
 

~ Happily linking with Susan for Favorite Resource This Week, Kris for The Weekly Wrap-Up, and Dawn for Camera Phone Friday.