Yellowstone Lapboook

We have a trip to Yellowstone coming up soon so I wanted Claire to make a Yellowstone lapbook.  I couldn't find one anywhere so I just made my own.  I used the printable blank lapbook templates from homeschoolshare.com.  We had some of Claire's friends over and made an afternoon out of it.  I think the books turned out well.  I even made my very first power point presentation!  I think that worked very well....I had it on the TV and the kids could see everything really well and copy things really well.  And I didn't have to spell anything for anyone!!

Front:



First Folder:



 

Second Folder:

 

Back:

I found this Yellowstone word find online.

 

 

We took a break in between folders and made Indian Fry Bread from this recipe.

 

We talked about the different kind of rocks in Yellowstone.  I showed the kids examples of the three different kinds of rocks and erupted our own volcano when we were talking about igneous rocks.  I don't have a picture of that, but the kids really enjoyed it.  It was just the standard baking soda and vinegar volcano.  We also made our own geysers with Mentos and Diet Coke.  Three groups did the experiment, but this is the best picture I got of any of them.

 



 

Needless to say, the kids REALLY enjoyed this experiment!

 

It was a fun day and I can't wait to go to Yellowstone and see it in person!

Wizard of Oz Bookclub

This is the first year that I'm doing a bookclub for my daughter and her friends.  I started one for my son when he was in the 4th grade and it's still going.  Claire is in the 4th grade this year so now it's her turn.  Our second book this year was the Wizard of Oz.  Since we did it in October we had a dress up party for book club complete with Wizard of Oz themed snacks.

The yellow brick road made out of cookies.  It led to the Emerald City where everything was green including the cookies and the chips!

 

One of the moms made "Over the Rainbow" cupcakes...

 

The kids came dressed up.  The most creative was one of the boys who came as the Wicked Witch of the East...complete with the house that fell on her!

 



I'm having a lot of fun with this bookclub.  Each month the kids read a classic book and then we watch the movie and compare them.  It's been a lot of fun and the kids are getting really good at filling in Venn Diagrams!

Mexico unit study

Wow!  Things here are sooo busy!  My poor blog is so neglected!  I'm getting ready for our much needed cruise in a couple of weeks.  I'm also planning 2 bookclubs, a birthday party, my son's confirmation, and a youth group Monopoly party.  It just so happened that Nathan's confirmation will be on Claire's birthday.  Claire, of course, really really wants her party on her actual birthday.  I told her that was fine with me, before I realized they were the same day!  So, I'm really going to enjoy my week on the Disney cruise because when I get back things are going to be very busy!!

One of the ports of call we are going to is Cozumel.  While we are there we're going to take a tour of the Mayan ruins.  To prepare for visiting Mexico I checked out a Mexico kit from our local museum.  This thing was awesome!  Here are a few of the things included in the kit...

Mexican Currency

 

 

Weapon/tool artifacts

 



 pottery artifacts

variety of cultural items

 

I was even crazy enough to make a pinata!

We invited friends from our homeschool group to join us since the kit was so cool.  It had lesson plans, books, artifacts, and tons of cultural items.  We learned about the Mayan and the Aztecs and the whole history of Mexico.

 

 

The kids made some mosaic masks...





And, of course, they loved breaking the pinata!

This Saturday we are going to that same museum that I got the kit from to see a planetarium show on the prophesies of the Mayans.  We went on Labor Day to see it, but, even though the website had said that it would be showing, it was not. :(  I talked to a manager and he said that there were not going to be any more shows the rest of the month.  I was really disappointed.  He could tell.  He took my member info down "in case there was something he could do."  He called me a few days later and said that they would do a showing for us!  So, this Saturday we are going to our own private showing of the Mayan prophesies!  How cool is that?  That will be the perfect end to our Mexico study.

First Day of School

Today is our first day back at school. We like to start in August and take May, June and July as our summer.   

The fact that I'm actually writing a blog about it DURING school shows that it is going well!  It probably also helps that I threatened Claire that if she didn't behave in school she couldn't go to gymnastics!! :)

Both have been using Saxon Math the last few years, but I switched both of them this year so I was a little nervous about that.  Saxon was moving a little fast for her so Claire is now doing Math U See.  She really likes it because it involves blocks.  She even said, "Wow!  This is like playing with Legos!"

I switched Nathan to Teaching Textbooks for Geometry.  He's pretty happy with it.  He said, "Hey, this is easy...it all makes sense!"  And the best part is all I have to do is grade his work!!

Hopefully, the rest of the day will continue to go as smoothly as Math class did!

If you homeschool, when are you starting school?

Homeschool Hop: State Recipes

I'm linking up with the Hip Homeschool Hop today.

A while back I posted about my daughter's 50 state recipes for this year.  We have now finished studying all 50 states so I thought I'd post some more yummy food pics!

You can't study Maine without eating lobster!

We made grilled lobster tails with lemon-lime butter.

Recipe can be found here.

For Idaho we made Hashbrown Breaded Chicken cutlets.

These are sooo good!

I can't find the link for the recipe, but you basically just dip the chicken pieces in flour, then an egg/milk mixture, then in frozen hashbrowns that are seasoned with season salt.  Then you fry them in a shallow pan of oil.



For Hawaii we made Banana Pineapple Upside Down cake.



And how can you study Hawaii without a pina colada??

Claire also gets to have and end of the year luau when the pool is warm enough to swim in.



Oklahoma is a fun state to cook for.  They have a huge state meal.  We just made part of it...

Chicken Fried Steak, Corn, squash, biscuits & gravy, and strawberries for dessert.

You can see their entire state meal here.



Being from Texas, pretty much anything we make is Texas food, but when we study the state we make one of our favorites...Chicken Fried Steak.  Seems the folks in Oklahoma north of us liked it so much they started making it too!  That's fine with me...we liked having it for two different states!

We also made pecan muffins since the pecan tree is the Texas state tree.





For Alaska we made Baked Alaska...this was a favorite with the whole family!!



Louisiana was another favorite state of ours because we made fried crawfish...



and beignets!

Are you hungry yet?  I am!

I think we all gain a few pounds when one of the kids is in 3rd grade!

I organized a "State Fair" for our homeschool group this year.  It was a lot of fun.  Each child chose a state and brought up an information board and a food representative of that state.  The kids were really creative and it turned out great!  Here are my kids with their states...

If you belong to a homeschool group or co-op that has at least 50 kids this is a very fun activity to do!

In addition to sharing our state foods, I'd also like to mention that my sister-in-law has decided to homeschool her daughter.  I'm so excited for them!  She has started a blog to record their journey so I thought I'd share it here.  It's Bridget's Mom.  So, if you have a minute stop by to say hello.  I'm sure she'd appreciate the support!

Homeschooling and Socilization

I'm sure you've heard the old argument about how homeschoolers aren't properly socialized.  Believe it or not, I usually hear that comment from someone at least once each school year!  I laugh.  Most homeschoolers laugh at this.  This is a picture from my son's youth group's pool party.  They look pretty social don't they?

We had 19 kids in the pool ranging in age from 12 to 18.  Everyone got along.  Everyone had fun.  It makes me happy to see this.  There were no upper classmen picking on lower classmen.  No bully harrassing a shy kid.  Nope.  Just good clean fun. 

I think that some people think homeschoolers just stay inside all day and study.  That is definately not the case!  My kids have lots of activities with non homeschoolers as well as other homeschoolers.  And I can tell you from many years of experience with little league baseball that my kid has WAY more social skills than most of the others!  I sometimes think people confuse social skills with talking.  Kids in regular school may get a chance to talk to more people each day, but how much is really proper socialization?  (For the record, I'm not saying that kids in regular schools cannot be properly socialized.  I just don't think it's really the school that's controlling that.  I think its more the parents.)

Here's an example of what I think is proper social skills.  I watched this exchange this weekend during the youth party....

The doorbell rang and my son, being the host of the party went to answer it.  It was a girl he'd never met before.  She said hello and introduced herself.  He introduced himself and welcomed her and invited her in.  Pretty good socialization if you ask me!


If you homeschool, do you ever hear the old socialization comment?  I usually just laugh it off, but I do like to do a post like this every once in awhile just so I can vent. :)


The Magical Mouse Schoolhouse hosts Tiggerific Tuesday.  Bounce on over if you want to join in!

http://www.magicalmouseschoolhouse.com/

Our First week of School

We started school this week.  We school from August to the end of April.  One reason is that its usually too hot in August to go out and do anyting.  This year that is especially true.  We are at 33 straight days of temps over 100 here.  Yesterday was 109.  The day before 110.  HOT!  We also like having the month of May off because everyone else is still in school and it makes a great time to do things and take trips! :)

Claire on the First day of school...

She's done so well all week.  I just hope she keeps it up for the whole year!

Nathan on the first day of HIGH SCHOOL!!  I still cannot believe he is in 9th grade!

 

On the 2nd day of school Nathan had a new student join his class...

 

She loves to jump up on his desk and hang out with him while he's doing school!

Fun with Dr. Seuss!

This semester we've been reading books or fairy tales and making recipes that go with them. A couple weeks ago we read Dr.Seuss' The Sleep Book. In the book the moose dreams of moose juice and the goose dreams of goose juice... So we made Moose juice and goose juice! This was really easy and fun. Claire had some friends over so I let everyone pick which "juice" they wanted.

To make Moose juice: Combine orange sherbert and Sunny delight (or you could use orange juice) in a blender and blend.

To make Goose Juice: Combine lime sherbert and green Lemon-lime kool-aid in a blender and blend.

Very simple to do, but a very big hit with the kids!

And if you still haven't voted for our Peeps dioramas you can do so here. Thanks for helping with our contest!

Show off your homeschool linky party

I'm joining the "Show off your Homeschool linky party" hosted by The Joys of Home Educating.


These pictures were taken a few months ago, but the layout is still pretty much the same. Here is Nathan's desk. The computer cart has been moved next to my desk.

This is Claire's desk. We now have a computer cart next to it for her computer. The big dry erase board is my favorite part! I had it for several years, but it didn't fit in the school room at our old house. We use this every day.

The closet. Its very roomy and manages to hold all of our school books and supplies.

This is my desk...

And we usually have our cat, Simba in the room for a bit!

And our yard is our playground! Claire got a swingset for Christmas so she can now play in the backyard. Before that, she played in the front yard. Both she and Nathan love all the trees at our new house. They are always climbing them and claire loved all the leaves in the fall!

We have a pool in the backyard so when it gets warm enough we'll have to have "swim class"!




Check out my current giveaway here.

A.A. Milne's Birthday

Today is the birthday of A. A. Milne, the author of those fabulous Winnie the Pooh books!

Since we all love Winnie the Pooh we are going to do a little impromtu Pooh stuff in school today. I found a great website with fun pictures and activities...

http://www.just-pooh.com/

I got Claire a coloring page from that website and found the idea for these honey sandwich rolls that they kids are having for lunch:

Nathan has peanutbutter in his too, but claire is allergic to peanuts so she just has honey. Rolling them up is a fun variation of the regular ol' sandwich!

We are also going to read a Pooh story today and, if we have time, watch a pooh video.

In our family we have our own Pooh character names. I think it started when Claire was little. Its funny. There is a Pooh character with a personality similar to each of us. Chris is Pooh, I'm Rabbit, Nathan is Eeyore, and Claire is Piglet. (Although she's becoming more like Tigger these days!)

Thanks to A.A. Milne for such wonderful characters!

Who is your favorite character from the Hundred Acre Wood??

What I love most about homeschooling...

The other day I was having "one of those days" with Claire (2nd grade). We have a lot of those days! She has kind of been wearing me out this year with her grumpy behavior. But in the middle of it all I had one of those "ah-ha" moments.

She is studying plants in science. She loves science and always wants to do an experiment or activity EVERY day. There wasn't one planned, but we went outside and collected leaves. Then she organized them according to type/shape and glued them on paper to display. As we were walking around the yard collecting the leaves I thought this is what I love about homeschooling...the freedom to learn! We didn't have to just stick to the lesson plan. We had the freedom to add to it, and add something she really enjoyed doing.

Also that day Nathan decided to write all of his spelling sentences about the bible. Freedom. Ironically, the week before he wrote them all about drug trafficing and border agents! Freedom.(Needless to say I was thrilled when he handed in bible sentences!)

So, in the middle of a frustrating day I got to take a step back and appreciate why I started homeschooling in the first place. Freedom!



Don't forget to enter my giveaway for hand sanitizer. To enter just click the link in my sidebar.

Yet another reason I'm glad I homeschool...

On the way to church Sunday we drove past an elementary school. It had a sign that said "no guns or drugs allowed". At an ELEMENTARY school! I read it out loud and my husband's response was "when I was in elementary school we had a sign that said fun zone ahead." Crazy.

Things really have changed since we were kids I guess. Seeing things like that always makes me think how glad I am that I homeschool my kids!

Look what I finally have room for!

My wonderful husband brought this big dry erase board home several years ago. The place he worked was going to throw it out! I loved it and wanted to use it in the school room, but it wouldn't fit...until now. The schoolroom in the new house has room for it. It was the first thing we hung up in this house. (Still one of the only things we've put on the wall) I love it and I use it every day. Now, if we could just get the rest of the stuff put on the walls that would be great!

Online Homeschool Classes

The folks at MomSelect asked me to review an online learning site.

http://www.onlineschoolsolutions.com/


When I went to the site and clicked on my state (Texas) two online education programs popped up: IQ Academy Texas and The Keystone School. They are different so I will comment on them separatly. Please note: I have not had a chance to personally try any of the classes from either one. I just found out about them. They look very beneficial though so I wanted to share them with other homeschoolers. Follow the link above to see what is available in your state. These are the two available in Texas...

IQ Academy Texas:



Offers coarses for grades 3-8. This program is free, but requires you to take all of the core classes. This won't work well for us personally because I only need my son to take a couple of outside courses. I like making his English curriculum and choosing which books he will read in literature. BUT this is free. While looking at their website I kept thinking that this would be perfect for someone who has pulled their child out of regular school and isn't sure where to begin with homeschooling.



The Keystone School:



This is an online high school and middle school program. This one is not free, but you can take as many or as few courses as you want. They offer the courses online or through correspondence. I like this. I've been looking for an option for Algebra I for my son when he is in 9th grade and this just might be what I've been looking for!



Like I said, we have not personally used these programs, but I think we may in the future. If this sounds like something that might work for you please visit http://www.onlineschoolsolutions.com/ to learn more.



Disclaimer: MomSelect will compensate me with a Target gift card for this review.

Links to free History resources

Recently, I've come across some pretty cool classroom resources you can get for free.

First, America The Story of Us is an epic 12-hour television event that tells the extraordinary story of how America was invented.

Go here to request your copy: http://www.history.com/america-the-story-of-us-splash


Go here: http://www.askheritage.org/premium.aspx to request a free pocket size copy of the constitution.

And finally, to sign up for a free WWII technology poster...

http://www.ww2sci-tech.org/poster/poster.php

Happy Learning!

Carnival and Crazy Tuesdays

Wow, this has been a hectic day! First of all, the carnival of homeschooling is up. Hopefully I'll get to finsih reading the entries soon! http://www.homegrownmommy.com/2009/09/01/carnival-of-homeschooling/

This was our first day back at homeschool PE. We have PE every Tuesday. This year we are also going to have art. We are lucky enough to have a mom in our group that teaches art. She has made her schedule to accomodate those of us that go to PE. That is really great, but it is going to make my Tuesdays crazy! We start art next week so this is what my Tuesdays will look like:

9 am: start school

10-11:30: Art for Nathan (I'm planning to bring Claire back home and finish school with her at this time. We'll see how that goes!)

11:30: Pick up Nathan, feed the kids lunch

1:00-1:45: Art for Claire (Nathan will bring his remaining school work with him to work on there.)

2:00-3:00: PE

4:00-5:00: Claire's gymnastics (Nathan will finish whatever school work is left here.)

Today almost wiped me out and we haven't even started art yet! I'm going to need to get REALLY organized. My biggest problem is meals. I'm going to try real hard to have quick to prepare things ready to heat up for lunch and dinner. I might have to get a better crock pot too. Mine doesn't have the bowl that lifts out so I never use it. I'm trying to cook a large meal once a week so I can freeze part of it for a future meal! I'm trying not to grab fast food on the go every week. Its especially tough because Claire has gymnastics until 5:00 2 days a week so I need a quick meal twice a week.

What's your favorite prepare ahead of time meal? I'm going to need more ideas so we don't end up with chicken enchiladas every week!

Homeschool Talk: Easy Fun Art Projects

A couple of weeks ago the whole family went to the Free Family Festival at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth. These are really neat! They have docents at different areas with different art activities for the kids to do. The theme was art from A to Z. So they had activities to go with artists with last names from A to Z. Now, there wasn't 26 activities, but it started with A and ended with Z.

I'm posting my kids' works of art with a little description because these activities were so much fun and could easily be done at home for a nice little art lesson.

One was a painting of a dentist office (I can't remember the artist.) The activity was to draw something dental related with white pencil on black paper. My son drew toothpaste on a toothbrush and my daughter drew someone flossing.

They also had self portrait lessons. The docent helped the kids draw the right shape face and told them how to get the eyes in the right spot, etc. They also had mirrors for them to use.

Since the theme was A to Z they had a really fun activity with letters. The child had to make pictures out of different letters of the alphabet. This one was really fun! And it would be so easy to do at home. Here is one of my daughter's. She made a lollipop out of a C and a drum out of an N. Sorry the picture is not horizontal. I have no idea why it turned out vertical once I uploaded it! Just turn your head a little and it will all make sense! :)

They also made Japanese style scrolls that were really nice, but I have no idea where we put those so I don't have any pictures of them. They drew a nature scene on a vertical strip of paper and then glued it to a more decorative and larger vertical strip of paper. (The decorative one could be some nice scrapbooking paper or thick wrapping paper.)

One particularly popular activity was a Piet Mondrain style picture. They had black lines cut to the size of the paper as well as red, yellow, and blue squares and rectangles. I thought this was a great idea. My kids vary a bit in age, but both of them really liked this activity.