We’ve kind of reworked our schedule. The girls used to have Fridays off, but I found that getting them to do any of their work on Wednesday was quite the task. So we changed it to being off on Wednesday, but not really off… more of a scheduled fun day. Today was the first day we could really do anything as last week everyone was sick and we laid on the couch. So today we spent the morning diagramming sentences. The girls loved this! Who’d have thought they’d eat it up like they did. The internet has a wonderful selection of helpful sites to teach this.

After we finished that, we pulled out the crafting materials and I asked them to make a card of any kind to fill a “we care” box. Once a week, we’ll pull a card out and send it to a person we care about. Just a note to say hi or birthday wishes… doesn’t matter. It’s just the thought. We spent a lot of time here, which was really surprising because Kelly hates to craft. She did a super job though in making a new baby card for a friend of ours.

Here’s the girls hard at work.

The hairspray was for Sarah’s card.

Here’s Kelly’s card.

And Sarah’s card…

And I got in on the fun too and made a bookmark.

Lunchtime came and went and we had to watch a quick episode of America’s Next Top Model. I think next week, we’re going to try one of their photography tips. They put vaseline on the models faces (no makeup) and then took black & white shots. The results were great and I can’t wait to see how it turns out.

But then that was over and we did a little bit of social studies. We read about a relatively new food that could end world hunger for children. Education World (which I never knew had such good stuff) has a great lesson plan on this topic. The food is called Plumpynut and it was really kind of interesting. Anyhow…it wasn’t to bad for a first time Wednesday. Who knows what next will bring, other than photography. Whatever it is, it’ll probably be interesting and definitely fun. Here’s the links from today if you want to have a look.

Diagramming Sentences Lessons

Education World: A Cure for World Hunger?

And this was a hidden gem I came across… super wonderful Guide to Grammar & Writing!

Profiling Home Educators Monday, March 31
Describe yourself, your family or one of your children. What is it like to be home educated in your family? What is “normal” for you?

Describing myself:  Ridiculiously unorganized curriculum junkie
Describing Sarah:   Headstrong Mother Hen
Describing Kelly:    Sports Phreak
Descibing Carl:       Homeschool pep squad leader…
What is “normal” for us… everything above.

Ok… to explain.  I love curriculum.  I can look at it all day and still be undecided when the evening rolls in.  I buy too much, I sell it on ebay and I’m happy with that.  I’m unorganized to a fault, but if you need something let me know because I know where it is.  Wait… maybe that is organized… ?  I don’t know. 

Sarah is so headstrong and very opininated, but she’s come a long way and has learned how to control herself in the moment.  She’s also a mother hen to the 10th degree.. lol.

Kelly loves sports.  It doesn’t make a difference if it’s only walking, she likes it.  I tease her about being a sports phreak but she doesn’t care. She knows its true.

Carl doesn’t really take part of our homeschooling journey, but he’s a definite supporter.  He encourages us, cheers us on and supports every decision we make. 

 
*Hosted Here*

Looking Back Sunday, March 30
Share your personal history…before you were a home educator. What was life like? Think about things you miss and things you and your family have gained.

—————–
Before we started homeschooling, I was working as an assistant bookkeeper for a nationwide chain of truck stops.  The girls were busy with school.  Carl had started a new job.  The only thing I semi-miss from the days before homeschooling is the time I had to myself.  Sometimes there’s too many people hovering over the stove or something, but I wouldn’t trade it in for anything.  What we’ve gained is a better understanding of each other, more patience, kindness and generosity.  The girls don’t fight as much as they used to and they know when enough is enough.  So many good things have come out of homeschooling, I can’t even begin to relate them all.  We’d be here for at least another five years.. lol.

Awesome links today!!

I hope you have your feeders ready, the hummingbirds are migrating north!
http://www.hummingbirds.net/map.html

A free summer science course is being offered through Quick Study Labs.  I signed Kelly up for it, I hope she likes it.  She’s a science hound anyhow, so I’m sure she will.
http://www.quickstudylabs.com

We Didn’t Start The Fire - A 50 Year History of the USA from 1949 - 1989
http://members.aol.com/Momosarebad/wdstf.html

Do you have a first aid kit?  Here’s a great article about 21 First Aid Items Every House Should Have.
Link Here

Find other homeschool blogs with Homeschool Buzz
http://homeschoolbuzz.com/

Take art class outdoors! 
Link Here

We found out today that the trip to the Federal Court House has been rescheduled!  I’m so excited as I think the girls are going to have fun with this.  Now I just have to come up with some great links about the things we’ll be doing so they’re not totally in the dark. 

Here’s our itinerary for the day:
The day at the federal Building will include the following:
-Receive a brief from the Federal courts office of admin
-Recieve a brief from the United States Secret Service
-Receive a brief from the United States Marshall’s Office
-Recieve a brief from the US Department of Homeland Security
-Sit in during a sentencing or plea in Federal court
-Meet with a Federal Judge
-Meet the prosecution and defense attorneys
-View through the observation windows high atop the building over looking the Arch/Stadium.

Anyhow, I think this is awesome and exciting!

What made you home school the kids? 
We started homeschooling because of a teachers exasperation actually.  When Kelly was in 3rd grade (3/4 of the way through the year),  I asked how math went that day.  She told us the teacher said to put their heads on the desk because “if they weren’t listening, she wasn’t teaching.”  This wasn’t the first time I heard of this method but it was the final straw.  I figured that I couldn’t do much worse and at least I’d be trying to educate.   So that’s one of the reasons we started.

What methods of learning does your homeschool use? 
We are a textbook kind of family.  Some families do a lot of reading, some unschool, but we like the textbooks… a page to start and finish on.  Kelly though, she likes unit studies too, so we do some of them.  That’s where you study on one main area such as Anne Frank for example and learn all about her time period, which we did.  They’re pretty fun, but time consuming.
  
How long does it take?
We homeschool M-F.  Our schedule recently changed for what works best for us, but it’s Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday - 9-3
Wednesday 2 hours of time if they need to finish anything and the rest of the day is something we do together (letterboxing, crafting, heavy chores.. ugh, games,).  Just some down time that’s fun when shared.  They don’t do school on the weekends and they have a light schedule in the summer (mainly reading and PE).  We take a long Christmas break (almost 3 weeks in December) and that’s about the only breaks we take through the year.

What are some difficulties?
We pay for everything out of pocket.  There’s no assitance for homeschoolers, so all their books, field trips, special events, daily lunches, school supplies, etc… are paid for by us.  We still pay district taxes though.. lol.  Other than that, I’m drawing a blank on any other difficulties.  Nothing really comes to mind.

Wait, I take that back.  It’s been hard understanding the college lingo.  We don’t have a counselor to go through, so that’s something I have to research to find out. 

What special interests do/does your child(ren) have?
Sarah loves animals & music.  - She’s worked at a Vet office for a couple of years and plans to major in Vet medicine.  She is also learning the guitar, plays piano & is in the church choir and going on a Missouri tour with a youth choir this summer.

Kelly loves sports of all kinds.  She’s an awesome basketball & volleyball player.  She loves to play football too….if it’s sporty, she’s there.

God love them…

A friend of Sarah’s told her that another area church is going to Young Christians’ Weekend at Silver Dollar City in Branson and that everyone is invited.  I asked her several times for the information and didn’t get it (asked Sarah to get it from her, I mean).  Well, I called and we were the last ones in… as much as I wished everyone could go, I feel really blessed to know that they get to go.  This is the first year this church has ever went, so they were new to the applying process.  I’m sure next year there will be an even bigger crowd going to this awesome event.  So they’re staying at a resort with cabins on Friday, Saturday they’re going to SDC for the event and they didn’t get to make it into the Sunday worship service, so they’re going to the Jim Stafford theatre instead. 

Once they get home, it’s time for the Freak Show again this year.  They’re not performing this time around, so they’ll have a good time in the audience watching the acts instead of being backstage.  Either way, it doesn’t matter…this is a great weekend to be Alive in Him!

So this weekend, we’re doing a few things to celebrate the love that Christ had for us.  The girls had never heard of Resurrection Eggs before, so we made up a version without the egg, just by putting our stuff in a bowl.  Basically, you read certain verses that pertain to the days leading up to Christ’s death all the way through the empty tomb.  If you use an egg, they open it and see how it correlates with the verse at hand.  We put our things in a bowl and they had to figure out what thing was correct at that time.  Usually it was pretty easy, but a couple verses had two things mentioned.  Anyhow, it led into some great conversations and I think the girls enjoyed that.  My girls are old enough that we can’t really do this year after year, but it’s like the story of Jesus’ birth… it never gets old.   Here’s the link where we found the info. 

Tomorrow, we’re going to make some Resurrection Rolls for dessert.  I think this will be kind of fun because I know they’re going to look at me like I have three heads when I tell them what to do.  I guess with some ice cream they’ll be really good.  >LINK<

If we have time, we’ll do an Easter Scavenger hunt. >Link<.  Sarah has a 3 hour choir practice tomorrow, so I don’t know if we can fit this in.

The Crucifixion of Christ by the Journal of the AMA.  It’s relating Christ’s death from a scientific medical view.

And maybe a little paper folding…>LINK<

One of my favorite stories is “I Am The Cross“.  The girls have heard it 100 times probably, but I still love it and wanted to share.

Anyhow, I think it’ll be a good day to reflect.

Some great links I’ve come across…

Scholarship Help - great jumping off point
www.scholarshiphelp.org

Weather Watchers
http://www.skywarn.org/default.htm

World War II Escape Tunnel
http://www.kerman94.com/tunnelharry.html

Save the World… 1 Hour at a Time.
http://www.earthhour.org/

Make your own Cadbury Eggs..
http://www.childrensrecipes.com/article_018.htm

We headed outside today for a game of modified Bocce Ball… lol.  Since we don’t have level yard we just improvised in the game.  It was pretty fun until the mosquitoes came out… I hate them little buggars.  I need to get some off next time we’re at the store.

I’m thrilled that summer is coming though.  We spend a lot of time outside playing yard games.  We play all the games below and I think we’re going to add lawn darts to collection this year.  I used to have a set of those and really had a bunch of fun.  I think the girls would like them too.

Bocce Ball
Badminton
Bolo Toss (my personal favorite)
Croquet
Tennis Ball Golf
Washers
Volleyball (Kelly’s favorite)

Anyhow, I thought I’d share some family favorites…

I also turned the comments back on.  They’ve been off forever, but I hope the spam karma plugin eats them.