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.  

A "Wholehearted" Week! - Weekly Wrap-Up #11

Memory Verse:

Luke 18:14

“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Some weeks I love to sit and write the weekly wrap-up.  This is one of those weeks. 

Our verse was taken from a study of the parables we are doing... it is from The Parable of Pharisee and the Tax Collector.   I'm enjoying going over the parables with the children.  In our Godly Play Sunday school classes the children are taught that a Parable is a Gift (the story is actually presented to them in a box - isn't that neat?) ... so very true.  Miss B has been notebooking the parables as we are learning them.   

There were so many moments where it was just so OBVIOUS to me that connections are being made.   My friend Jess blogged about this very thing today.  Less time was spent in our workbooks and doing formal "work", but we learned so much MORE in the process.

As I've explained before, these wrap-ups get printed and put in my homeschool binder, so thanks in advance for bearing with all of the little details of our week.   I hope I can give you enough links and good ideas to keep you interested!

I have been writing a lot about Educating The Wholehearted Child and how this book is changing so many things for our family.   One of the wonderful things I have taken away from the book is the "Check Me Out" Dependable List.    We used this list all week long - morning, evening, and a few traits all day with each child.   I handled the morning tasks and my husband supervised the evening tasks.   Handing over the evening routine to my husband was such a relief for me... and I'm thankful he was so willing to do this each night with the kids.   After the kids were "checked out" for the day, then I would read to them... a perfect ending to the day.  This is the first checklist that has really WORKED for us --- made the whole week go very smoothly.  

This week we did an artist and picture study -- Picasso's Girl With a Boat.   (We have been using Handle on the Arts curriculum - it's marvelous for fine arts!)  In this curriculum one of the activities suggested was "Fractured Faces" -- the kids' turned out great, and they had such fun one rainy morning digging through magazines and coming up with funny faces.   We also spent lots of time looking at Picasso works online, and I dug out my Picasso information from when a Picasso exhibit was here in Atlanta several years ago (long before I had children!).   At the end of the month we will be going to a homeschool art day at The High Museum in Atlanta ~ where they are featuring an exhibit entitled "Picasso to Warhol:  14 Modern Masters".  I'm so excited to use this exhibit as the spine for our art studies!

Math has been interesting recently... my youngest has started multiplication in earnest, and my oldest really needs continued work with division before we go any farther into long division.  We have been doing a little bit of Charlotte Mason's Business Math series, and this week added in some Math Mammoth for both children.  This is an upcoming review I'm doing, and I'm so glad I got this!   It is focusing much more on mental math and seems to be just what the doctor ordered, especially for Miss B.    Again, reading The Wholehearted Child has given me courage to ditch the NORMAL and do what I think is best for my children -- which to me is more real world math! 

Our 50 State Study led us to Wyoming this week.   We always check out a book from the library about our state and then research further on the internet.   This state study has been wonderful for us -- the kids know the locations and capitals of all the states now, and then notebooking about them each week adds to their knowledge.   

Writing With Ease continues to be an excellent fit for both of my children.  I love the selections they use in the first volume for narration and copywork.  This week it was Mary Poppins for GMan... he had never seen the movie, can you believe that?   After we had finished the WWE lessons we watched the movie one rainy evening.    We've also been listening to the music constantly.  Today while the kids were playing outside I hear them singing Mary Poppins music -- I love it!    

Miss B's selections are very difficult, but I am so proud of the way she narrates and takes dictation.  The years of reading aloud pay off, I PROMISE!!  

Physical education this week was all bike riding!   Most days it was rainy, but that didn't stop my bike riders.   Today they even rode 5 miles at a local park, while I walked.  It was so wonderful to be outside and enjoy our fall colors.   The rain also caused all baseball games and practices to be cancelled -- can I tell you a secret?   I was glad because I enjoyed the break from running around!  

 We reached a milestone in history this week - we finished The Story of the World Volume 1!    Now, we are listening to the audio CDs in the car as a review, and I'm amazed and how much the children enjoy them.   I made their notebooks for Volume 2, and we will begin that in the next week or so.    I'm so thankful to Susan Wise Bauer for such a solid, engaging history spine!   I'm also so grateful for one blog in particular -- Chronicles of the Earth.  There are so many SOTW resources here - it is amazing!   This resource was our favorite of the week!!  (Check out other favorites at Susan's blog!)  

Lesson 4 was finished in Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day, our current science text.   Today, as we were sitting on the deck finishing a book, birds were overhead.  My daughter said -- "They're catching thermals!".  My son also has been identifying birds by their calls when he takes the dog out each morning.    This week we learned about flight and migration and watched another episode of our BBC The Life of Birds (The Mastery of Flight).    We are notebooking our way through each chapter and I can see a real appreciation of birds developing in my children (and me, too!).  

Thursday was a fun day... Miss B took a field trip to a horse barn with her Horse'n Around class she is taking at co-op.  I dropped her off bright and early, so then GMan and I had the morning to shop and run errands.   I got myself a brand new winter coat -- haven't done that in about 15 years, can you believe it?   It was nice to have just the morning with my little boy... he's such a fun kid to hang out with!     In the afternoon we had our co-op and I'm so amazed the children in my Recorder Karate class.  They have been practicing and are learning so much!   

Miss B and I started First Form Latin on Thursday - this, too, is an Old Schoolhouse Review, and I am blessed to receive this.  We had wanted to study Latin and started a program that didn't really fit for us.  First Form is rigorous and challenging, but we are up for that challenge!   It is a time just for she and I to sit and learn together.  GMan uses this time to play on Big IQ Kids or Dance Mat Typing.  

We took a scheduled "quiet time" each day (except for Thursday, our co-op day), in which each child was to read and quietly play or work on their assigned lapbook.   Miss B. finished a book she LOVED - Catherine, Called Birdy.   GMan usually plays Legos and has also been reading some Boxcar children, too.  I use this time to take a little quiet, too - and then catch up on any laundry or little things that need to be accomplished around the house.  

Homemade Squirrel Food

I summed up our read-alouds and interest led learning horse study in my Read Aloud Thursday Post... we finished King of the Wind today.  Now to pick the next read aloud! 

The final thing I want to write about is this morning... where I really noticed so many connections being made.   The kids wanted to collect acorns and smash them open to see the insides.  They did this (with rubber hammers!) and then added corn and birdseed to it to make food for the squirrels.  The whole time they were chattering about woodpeckers and how they bore acorns into trees, and different birds and what they eat.  The conversation was quite cute to listen to (I was folding laundry just inside the garage from where they were smashing), and it made me so thankful that we homeschool.  Here my children were, enjoying each other's company and recounting their knowledge.   We are blessed, indeed.   

This post took quite a long time to write!  Look all we accomplished this week.   Now, if you'll excuse me -- the UPS man is bringing a new iPhone and I need to go sit in the driveway in anticipation!!  

I'm happily linking with Kris for the Weekly Wrap-Up.  I'm also linking with Susan for Favorite Resource this Week!  

Weekly Wrap Up #8 ~ I Took A "Personal" Day!

All in all, it was a good week... not a GREAT week, but definitely good.    By the time Wednesday rolled around I was feeling overwhelmed with laundry, activities, and preparing for a co-op class, so when the kids got out of bed in the morning I told them "NO SCHOOL!".    We spent the day running errands and then doing some read alouds in the afternoon.   When I was a public school teacher every now and then I would have to take a "personal day" - do you ever take these types of days as a homeschooling mom?  

The HIGHLIGHT of my week (as a mom) was participating in a book club with several other women from our homeschool group.  We began studying Sally Clarkson's book The Mission of Motherhood.  If you've never read this book, you must.  It is just what I have been craving.  As the title implies, it is about motherhood being a MISSION, not just something we fit into our lives.  I truly believe it is my mission during this season of my life to nurture, educate and spend time with my children.    The verse that stuck out to me from the evening was this; 1 Thessalonians 2:8:  

So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

While these words were originally written by Paul, it is so applicable to us as mothers.   Are we "affectionately desirous" of our children on a daily basis, or are we too concerned with checking off our subjects and completing our to-do lists?    And, we love our children so much that we share our lives and our whole selves with them.  It isn't that they just fit into a certain part of our day, they ARE our days.    This mission of motherhood isn't the popular view in today's culture, and it is so sad to me.  I am, however, so blessed to be a part of a group of mothers who all share the same mission, and I left book club feeling so encouraged and supported.    I have to be honest that I also left wondering why I blog quite so much... I NEED to spend more time on my marriage, home, and homeschooling.   I've been praying about this and working on it for a few weeks now and I can see measurable progress... I post a little less often and don't spend much time anymore on Twitter.    

Let's see -- our homeschool accomplishments this week....   Twice we have seen wild turkeys in our area (one time I pulled the car over and snapped a picture), and we found a great book at the library (Wild Turkeys, an Early Bird Nature Book) and learned all about them.  This also goes along well with our Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day science text.  I love that we can see something that interests us, then extend upon that during our school day.  These "educational tangents" are becoming more and more frequent in our homeschool!  

In our science text we learned about different types of feathers and did an experiment with feathers we had found in our yard.   It involved putting oil on one feather and putting it in water, and then putting a plain feather in water.  It was a good example of what waterfowl do when they preen themselves.   We also began our bird logs in our notebooks and wrote common and Latin names for the birds we are seeing.  I'm amazed at how many birds we have in our hard now that we are looking for them and attracting them with feeders!  


While we are still on the subject of science, I have to tell you about meeting the most wonderful, generous science educator, Janice van Cleave.  I simply visited her website a few days ago and inquired about her materials for homeschoolers, and she sent me a HUGE box of science experiments, books she has written, and all kinds of fun science accessories for my children.  I was floored by her generosity and passion for science.  This week she talked me through a color changing pencil experiment called Chameleon Dyes.  If you visit her website you can see what it's all about!    This is Janice, and we'll be using A LOT of her science materials this year!  

 We continued learning about Julius Caesar this week, and this has really interested my children.   One fun activity we did was talking about measurement in ancient Rome.   When they measured things in "feet" they literally meant the length of a person's foot.  So, the kids traced their feet (don't ya love the patterned paper? - from my leftover scrapbooking scraps!) and measured their height in their own "feet" and then compared that to today's standard 12 inch foot.   We also watched a documentary on Netflix (Sunken Ships of Rome) about sunken ships off an Italian island and the secrets they revealed.  I was amazed at how nicely this tied into our reading of The Wadjet Eye this week, too.    If you're studying ancient history, The Wadjet Eye is a must read!  

I pulled out a book about maps this week and wanted to make sure the kids had all the basic geography facts cemented in their brains!  We reviewed the continents, oceans and terms like topographical, cartographer, latitude, longitude, etc...  and then the kids took turns calling out grid coordinates and finding places on the map.  To reinforce coordinates, dad and GMan played plenty of Battleship this week, too.  This was GMan's first experience with the game, and he greatly enjoyed playing - although we still need to work on him giving away the location of his ships!  


GMan's Lego passion continues (I don't see it waning any time soon), and he earned a Creator set from me for reading all the way through his children's devotional Bible. He spent a month of Sundays (literally!) reading his Bible in church and he finished it last Sunday.   I was more than happy to reward him with some Legos.   We got the set on Monday evening.  He didn't have time to build before bed so he said he was going to get up early Tuesday and build.  Fine with me.  I had no idea early meant 4:30 a.m.!    Here's his finished project; this is the first time he has built with the directions and no help from mom or dad.   He looks tired, doesn't he???

  

Miss B had some fun while I was giving piano lessons one afternoon.  She finally opened a sand art kit she had gotten for her birthday and completed two wonderful pictures.   These were fairly intricate, but she stayed at the kitchen table nearly two hours working on them.   I love it that my children can get involved in project and see them through to completion!  Homeschooling gives us this time.  

Both children are illustrating the poem The Months by Sara Coleridge (in First Language Lessons).    Last year I had fun nice spiral bound books for children to write stories in, but we're using them for copywork with illustrations this year.   I don't have a formal handwriting program for the children, but when they do copywork or Writing With Ease lessons we talk about good penmanship.  GMan is really wanting to learn cursive, so I may have to look into that for him in the near future.  

The kids finished notebooking pages about Oklahoma this week and we read a story about Will Rogers.  Next week we'll study Kansas.  Don't ask me how we're coming up with the order we study them - it's totally random!  We chose Kansas because sang Home on The Range this week, and learned that it is the state song of Kansas.

 We culminated the week with going to see Dolphin Tale.  All I can say is WOW.    It's the best movie we've seen in quite some time.    The kids really want to go see Winter the dolphin in Clearwater, FL now.  I know we can work it in when we make our annual trip to S. Florida to visit my mom and dad, so it's something we can all look forward to.   


On an exciting note, my husband found out he is traveling to New York City for business in October.   We thought it would really be nice if I could go along and we could have a little alone time.   Thanks to a couple of dear friends of mine who will be keeping our children, I get to spend three days with my husband (while he's not working!) in NYC.  AND ---- I'm so excited about this ---- I will most likely get to meet Jess and Theresa from my other blog, Three Thinking Mothers!!   (They live just outside of NYC.)


Tomorrow is a big day for both kids:  It is opening day for GMan's baseball league, and it is Miss B's very first swim meet!!   We'll be going all day with sports, but I'm so glad they each have something they love and are passionate about!  

*linking to The Weekly Wrap Up