Homeschooling Update

Yes, we are still homeschooling!!  Even though I (we) have been busy with early gardening and milk production the book learning is continuing.   I thought I would give you a run-down of what is going on in the homeschooling arena at Busy Hands Busy Minds.

Together we are studying the War Between the States.  In our group time we begin the day reading a chapter of Proverbs and a chapter from the Psalms.  We review our Latin or Greek root for the week from English from the Roots Up.  I have then been reading through Facts the Historians Leave Out A Confederate Primer by John S. Tilley.  We finish that up today and will begin Walt Whitman's Civil War Poetry and Prose.  We had started Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, but just couldn't stand it.  I decided it was fine if the children just had a small taste of it and knew the history of this fictional story written by Stowe using second and third party sources.  It is said that upon meeting Stowe in 1863, President Lincoln said, " So, this is the woman that wrote the book that caused this war."  We are also reading Two Little Confederates by Thomas Nelson Page and Call of Duty:  The Sterling Nobility of Robert E. Lee by J. Steven Wilkins.  We are using All American History Volume 2 by Celeste W. Rakes as our spine for our history studies and hope to finish up our two year stretch of American history this fall.   The older two boys and I are also studying the rather hefty volume The War Between the States:  America's Uncivil War by John J. Dwyer.  This is a fascinating book and has lots of great quotes that you most likely have not read in any other modern day textbook.  Devin (22) is taking the children through A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers by Melissa E. Craig and Maggie S. Hogan.  She meets with them once a week for this and we are supposed to listen to the music selections throughout the week.

Jordan (18) is studying Biblical Economics by R. C. Sproul, Jr. which he is greatly enjoying.  He has edited several programs for The Homeschool Channel on economics and many of R.C. Sproul's talks as well and finds them very interesting and beneficial.  He is also studying American literature through Learning Language Arts through Literature, doing an algebra review using VideoText and is doing lots of research on homesteading topics.  He is pretty much in charge of our gardening endeavors this year and has started hundreds of plants indoors and out and has built all of our raised beds and some planters by himself.  He is quite the handyman.  In addition to his film editing responsibilities at The Homeschool Channel, he spends a few hours a week taking and editing photos of his own.  He also has a huge stack of homesteading, theology and historical works that he is reading through.

Aaron(14)  is plugging through Apologia's Physical Science.  This has been a stretch for me to prepare and keep up with as most of our science studies have previously been through unit studies as a family.  Aaron feels led to study medicine, so we felt he needed to have a more formal science curriculum.  I am interested in looking at other science curriculum to see if I can find a better fit.  He has recently started VideoText algebra with Jeff and is finishing up Learning Language Arts through Literature (green).  He also using Daily Grams for daily grammar review. He is also using Building Thinking Skills Book 3 and doing some spelling review through Natural Speller.   Typing and Quarter Mile math drills are done on the computer.  He does Spanish independently using PowerGlide.  I hope to move him to Rosetta Stone this next year.  He also greatly enjoys reading through the Ballantyne books of world wide adventure stories and is reading some theological works, historical fiction and biographies.  Practicing piano, drawing, painting, chores,  and editing audio programs for his dad's home business round out his days.

Kaelan (11) is studying plants through Answers in Genesis God's Design for Life series.  Jackson is tagging on this study at times. She started a pressed flower collection and will be doing some identification of plants as well.   She is working through Teaching Textbook 6, typing and Quarter Mile math drills on the computer.  She also likes to email extended family members frequently.  ; )  She keeps up with family members all over the world!  She is studying Learning Language Arts through Literature (purple) with Daily Grams for daily grammar review.  Spelling lists come from Natural Speller and she is also using Building Thinking Skills Book 2.  Kaelan also has a tall stack of books that she is reading from based on our history studies, but usually pulls some old favorites from the bookshelves to read as well.  I think she is now reading Little Women...again!

Jackson(6) is finishing up the primer level of Math U See and will be starting MUS Foundations (the old version) as soon as it comes in.  I decided to put him in the older version because we already have the teacher's edition and I have already gone through it myself, ummm, like three other times and it won't be something that I have to relearn. ; )  We are s l o w l y making our way through Alphaphonics.  Little by little, bit by bit, I am seeing progress.  One of the great advantages of  homeschooling is that we can go as slow or as fast as we need to.  Right now, for this child and his phonics studies it is slow going.  And that is OK!!  He is using the Italic Handwriting Series as have all of my children.  I think I like it much more than any of them do.  Jackson participates in most of our group time and usually enjoys coloring a page from a historical Dover coloring book while he listens in.  I am trying to have some time each week where he is listening to audio books like Charlotte's Web or programs such as Your Story Hour or Jonathan Park.  He is read to daily by either me, Jeff or one or more of his siblings and he "reads" books by himself several times a day.  His favorite right now is  David Macaulay's The Way Things Work.


Two year old Caedmon is now enrolled in Potty Training 101.  He is now 2 1/2 (as of tomorrow) and as the weather is warming and he can now go half dressed without getting too chilled, big sister Devin has declared it TIME!.   We have been putting him on the potty for several months before bath time and he has had some success.  We are now going into full mode with training pants (no pull-ups here).  Diapers are still going on at nap and bedtimes.  Caedmon enjoys books, puzzles and most of the activities in his daily boxes.  Some of my favorite resources for this age come from Lauri and Melissa and Doug.   Some of the activity bags and folders have become too easy for him and I need to reorganize his materials.  He is a genius, I tell you, a genius!

So, that is what is going on in the homeschooling department of Busy Hands Busy Minds.  If things weren't so busy around here I would have linked all these wonderful resources so that you could look at them and purchase from my affiliate links, but my children need more time from me than this blog does.  If you have a question about any resource, please leave me a comment and I will get back to you ASAP.    Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

Creating

There is still time to add your recipes for milk products here!

While we've been busy staying on top of all the milk coming in we haven't let school or extra activities slide too badly.  The bedrooms could use a good hour or two of work and reorganization and some floors need to be mopped, but sure and steady wins the race.  In spite of the extra work I am enjoying filling the freezer with fresh homemade butter, making yogurt and yogurt cheese and making all kinds of breads and treats with buttermilk and milk.

I found a recipe for making cream cheese in the Nourishing Traditions cookbook, but I am not sure it turned out right.  I need some help to determine whether this is indeed cream cheese and just needs to be whipped up some or needs to be dumped.  This is what I got after draining in a bag overnight.  The lighting is kind of dark, but the cheese is white.

The children have been busy creating as well.  Jordan has been faithfully tending the seeds that have sprouted in our dining room.  I will be glad when they can go in the ground and my dining room can be cleared of the extra table and plants. ; )  He is as always busily editing photos and writing.

And outside we have seven raised beds full of little sprouts.

Aaron and Kaelan have been spending lots of time practicing for piano and violin recitals.  Kaelan has been helping me in the kitchen a good bit and has also created a large hanging collage of the solar system that is suspended from above her bed.   She wouldn't let me post a picture, though.  She has been working on this project with Jackson.....and used up all our styrofoam plates. ; )  She also created a beautiful table arrangement of blooming dogwood.

Aaron has been experimenting with oil painting.   He is combining his love of music with his love of art. Above is an incomplete painting of Tchaikovsky.

Faure

Mozart

And this is a drawing of Gulliver from  Gulliver's Travels.

Jackson has been doing lots of drawings and composing his magnum opus.  It's not important that his staff has more than five lines....he is having fun and always has one of us sing his latest composition.  The drawing in the lower right is Bill the Sheriff  with a "cactapus" in the background.  ; )

Creating does tend to mean that messes are being made, but it is very important to let the children discover the gifts and talents that the Lord has given them.  It is my prayer that my children will use their many gifts and talents in building up the Kingdom of God.  

Math with Jackson

We have been learning to count by fives.  We have finally got the concept down after spending a couple of weeks counting objects and separating them into muffin tins and by putting some cards with the numbers 5, 10, 15, 20, through 60 in order.

Today he was writing out the numbers.  After looking over his work I asked what a certain number was.  It was supposed to be a 10, but looked more like an "H".  He answered, "It's a 10 in Hebrew!"

He continued writing out the numbers again and was counting them out loud.  He got to the number 40 and stopped for some commentary.  He said, "Forty is a great age.  You know why?  "Cause you can shoot a machine gun!"

Life with Jack is certainly full of surprises....even in the middle of a math lesson!

What We Are Studying- Leading Up to the Civil War

We just recently began one of our favorite studies of  the Civil War.  We will be learning about this time period for the next several months.  For the next couple of weeks we are reading and discussing the time period leading up to the war.  We have so many great resources that I thought I would share with you.

Aaron and Jordan, 14 and 18 years old, will be reading The War Between the States:  America's Uncivil War by John J. Dwyer.  This 38 chapter volume is jam-packed with lots of great pictures, maps, quotes and other information you will not get from any other resource.  Dwyer has a handful of other well-known historians who contributed to this  undertaking.  The boys will be working through the study guides for each chapter and adding quotes and maps to their notebooks.

In addition to the above text the boys will be reading Sounding Forth the Trumpet by Peter Marshall.   Marshall, being from Massachusetts, takes a decidedly Northern view of the war.  We feel that it is important that we learn from both sides as every story has different versions.  Dr. Marshall  has meant a lot to us in our studies of American history.  We have been privileged to meet him and had him sign all of our books that he wrote.  Jeff made several programs with him about segments of American history for American Family Radio.  They are probably still available for sale.  If you are interested, leave me a comment and I will point you in the right direction.

In our group time we are reading:

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Facts the Historians Leave Out by John S. Tilley
Sojourner Truth:  American Abolitionist by W. Terry Whalin

Tonight we will watch an A & E Biography Frederick Douglass.


We have a stack of books from the library to read through in this next week as well.

Kaelan will read Harriet Beecher Stowe:  Connecticut Girl by Mabel Cieland Widdemer, a Childhood of Famous Americans book.  I will read Henry Clay by  Helen Stone Peterson, a Discovery Book to Kaelan and Jackson.  Other books to read through in this stack are-

Aquila's Drinking Gourd:  A Story of the Underground Railroad by Pamela Kell
Escape to Freedom;  The Underground Railroad Adventures of Callie and William by Barbara Brooks Simon
Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers by Jean Fritz
Frederick Douglass:  Abolitionist and Author by Norma Jean Lutz
The Story of the Underground Railroad by R. Conrad Stein
The Abolitionist Movement by Elaine Landau

I am still typing up our full lesson plans for this unit, but if you would like a copy I would be glad to share with you.

Of course we still have phonics, math, language and science to cover each day, not to mention the piano, violin and all those chores we do!  Time to gather my little (and big) chicks around and get our group learning time going!

The Well-Stocked School Room

I am still very busy taking care of sick children, going to the doctors' offices and orthodontist office and even took one child to Memphis to the airport where she left me to fend for myself for a whole week!!  My house is a mess and due to results from allergy tests I am FORCED to clean things up and out around here or continue making my children sick.    Dust mites were Caedmon's number one allergen on his allergy test and unfortunately, there is a lot of dust around here right now.  Hopefully with Jeff's help tomorrow, we can remedy a good bit of that problem and then start work on the next problem.  Believe me, we have a BIG list of problem areas that need attention, but health right now is the number one concern.

I am still dreaming of planning for the upcoming school year and took a moment this afternoon to do a quick survey of school supplies.  I came up with this list for a well-stocked school room after doing my look around.  This is a far cry from the materials that I started with over 22 years ago and not everything is necessary.  I do like to find special pencils, pens, notebooks,  and other supplies on clearance and  put them up for little surprises.  Did I leave off anything that you find necessary?  I'm not talking curriculum or books, just supplies.  Are you prepared for your next session of school?

binders
composition notebooks
notebook paper
copy paper
colored copy paper
white and colored cardstock
page protectors
tabbed dividers
index cards
sticky note pads
construction paper
drawing paper
hole punch
stapler
scissors
glue
glue sticks
pens
pencils
erasers
permanent markers
washable markers
colored pencils
brads
paper clips
tape
thumb tacks
poster board
crayons
highlighters
folders
pocket folders
clipboards
dry erase boards
dry erase markers
copier/printer---Jeff bought us a pretty nice one a couple of years ago.  When we got home with it Jackson was very interested and asked about it repeatedly.  Jeff told him it was for his education.  Jackson used that phrase every time the printer was referred to for a while.  He was only two or three, so it was really cute!  ; )

A Rambling Update

Even though I haven't posted in two weeks doesn't mean that we haven't been busy as usual.    We had my mom visiting for a few days and enjoyed celebrating with my sister's family as my nephew graduated from Ole Miss.   We also had Lauren  and the grandsons here for a few days as well.  We have done our usual large batch cooking of cinnamon rolls, granola and spaghetti sauce.  The children got me a HUGE stockpot that I am able to cook large batches in ONE pot without fear of boiling over.   I was also able to make the spaghetti sauce using fresh herbs from my own garden....and it is delicious!!!

Gardening work continues and flourishes!!  We have tomatoes and peppers on the vine, corn  and potatoes are coming up, strawberries are blooming and everything else is looking good.  Jordan built 7 more 4' x 4' beds for me this weekend and we have filled one of them with lemon balm (I will post some recipes later), another with oregano and a third with peppers, tomatoes and winter squash.  This morning we will plant more corn, green beans and winter squash in the remaining boxes.  We are trying out square foot gardening and are hopeful that our corn in the box (and much nearer the house) does better than the corn patch further away.  I still have some tomato plants started from seed that are hardening and will plant those in the next week.  Staggering my planting was not really intentional, but I think will benefit us with a longer period of fresh veggies and will spread out the work of canning and freezing.

We have also done some work in the landscaping department.   I called a friend to see if she wanted to have some of my hostas that were in need of dividing and she wound up coming and helping me to dig up all of the hostas, separating them, replanting in their existing bed and moving about 30 or so to a new bed.  She was also able to take about 20-30 home with her.

We have also been sick for a few days.  Jackson started us out with fever, headache,  coughing, sore throat, sneezing and wheezing.  It then moved to Kaelan and then to me.   Then, Jackson had a repeat!!  The older boys have had some of the same symptoms as well.  Jordan is the only one BRAVE enough to take my tonic regularly, so he has been able to carry on.

This week I decided to take the week off from school.  Wednesday is Kaelan's 11th birthday, Thursday is piano recital day and Friday is violin recital day.  Grandmother will also be coming for a couple of days to see Kaelan and Aaron in the recitals.  I took the time to sit down and finish planning out the rest of our War for Independence study and we will finish it up the last week of June.  Very fitting as we look to celebrate Independence Day!!  We will then take a week off to visit with my extended family who will be coming in from Ohio and Washington, DC.  My brother will be leaving the states for  three years to work in the Congo, so this is a little farewell visit for him.  He will stop first in Ecuador to get married!!   He will be turning 41 in early July and has finally met the woman for him.  They met in Spain, but she is from Ecuador and they will start their married lives together in Africa.    On our return home we will spend about 4 weeks finishing up our study of Africa that we have put on hold.  In August we will resume our American history studies via All-American History, KONOS, Clarence Carson and various other sources.

Time to stop the rambling and check out what my assistant gardeners have accomplished so far.  Hope to post more regularly, but my internet connection can be unreliable.  DSL would be so nice, but here in the boonies satellite is about the best we can do!!

If You Fail to Plan

You know the old adage, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!"   That little tidbit of wisdom is so very true. I haven't been planning our school days very well lately and our school work has been suffering.  Jeff was at home today and I was able to get a good bit of school time in this morning and got lots of planning done this afternoon.  I still have more to do, but it is such a good feeling to know where we are going and how we are going to get there!!

I have gone back to making daily folders for all the children but my high schooler.  In the folder go Calculadder sheets, Daily Grams, Building Thinking Skills, paper for copywork and a sticky note with other assignments like McGuffey readers, history reading, writing assignments and others.  On the front of each folder I list the assignments that need to be done on that day.  This gives me a reminder of what I need to put in each folder and lets the child know what else he should do (we are using Teaching Textbooks this year and I can't put that in their folders).  It takes a little more time for me to do my planning this way, but I think we  get more accomplished and in a shorter amount of time.

My high schooler has an assignment sheet of daily lessons which include Carson's A Basic History of the US, MUS Stewardship, Daily Grams, Calculadder, McGuffey, Learning Language Arts through Literature: British, reading and writing assignments.  He works three afternoons a week editing programs at The Homeschool Channel unless he is out of town at a conference.  Last week he missed three days of "school" while filming at the Cincinnati conference.  We just have to "school" around his work schedule.  I am so thankful for all he is learning with his job.  I did ask him the other day if he learned anything at the conference.  His reply, "No, not really.  I think I've heard it all now."  Oh, have you, my son!!  In his defense, I was a KONOS rep for a few years and he traveled with me and he has filmed and edited several homeschool speakers this past year.  I said, "Tell me something that you heard."  He began telling me about someone speaking on notebooking (which we have done) and about how she was talking about the three types of learners:  kinesthetic, visual and auditory.   I was impressed.  He is learning much about filming and editing, but also lots about homeschooling methods and lifestyles.  I wonder how I can "label" the info he is learning about homeschooling on a transcript?    So much of our school cannot be planned, but it helps me so much to plan what I can.

Now I am off to rock Caedmon and watch a Netflix movie with the middle children.

Playing Catch Up

 Life, as usual, has been busy around here lately.  I am always amazed at how other moms can be involved in so many outside activities and maintain their sanity.  I learned a few years ago that I needed to say "NO" more often so that I could keep things going on the home front.  We are busy enough as a family with music lessons, work and travel schedules to add any other activities to our load at this time.

I just wrote that and  I now see how ridiculous that looks as these last few weeks have been filled with activities that I was involved in.  A couple of weeks ago we had our annual father/daughter banquet that I helped coordinate.  We were blessed to have Geoffrey, Anna Sophia and Elizabeth Botkin join us and share with our fathers and daughters.   The next day I began baking over 400 rolls for a friend's daughter's wedding which is this Friday evening.  This family is extremely involved in fighting a culture war in our state and I felt so blessed to be able to help them in this small way.  I have also been coordinating a How Great Thou Art Seminar with Barry Stebbing which will be held this Thursday, Friday and Saturday.   The Stebbings will also be here through next week filming a nature study series for The Homeschool Channel.

In the midst of all of this we have had our normal piano and violin lessons, Devin's teaching schedule and Jordan's work schedule.  We also had a short visit by Lauren and the boys on Saturday.  The boys are growing so quickly and now, Lauren is expecting baby number three!  Devin went home with them and helped Lauren clean her house and get ready for Elisha's first birthday party.  Jeff's parents were able to attend along with our son-in-law's family.  With just family there were about 27 people there!

Please remember Jeff's step-father, Earl, in your prayers.  He has recently found out that he may have lung cancer and will be finding out from the surgeon today when surgery will be scheduled.  He and Jeff's mom, Erma,  have both been fighting pneumonia these last few weeks and, of course, he is very anxious about the cancer prognosis.  Please keep both of them in your prayers.

After the Congressional vote in Washington on Sunday I found it a little ironic that we were beginning a study of the Revolutionary War on Monday.  We are continuing to study the character trait of responsibility and will soon begin a study on courage.  Can I just say that it would so amazing if all of our elected officials would take some time off and do a little study on these topics as well?  I am so very grateful that I can point my young men to the examples of responsible and courageous men from our country's past history.  I can only pray that they will be men who will stand in the gap, speak truth, and follow God in all they do.  No, I can do more than that!!  I can teach them God's Word and point them to Godly examples who have done great things in the past!

It is so very easy for Christians to become discouraged and dismayed in today's world.  We have had many discussions around our  dinner table about what this legislation means and how we can respond.  Jeff has shared this portion of scripture with us and it is so very appropriate.  The LORD tells us here specifically what we are to do!   This is a letter written by the prophet Jeremiah in Jerusalem to the Jews who were  captive in Babylon.

                   Jeremiah 29:  4-14  Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried                away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon:  Build houses and dwell in them;  plant gardens and eat their fruit.  Take wives and beget sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters--that you may be increased there, and not diminished.  And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it;  for in its peace you will have peace.  For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:  Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed.  For they prophesy falsely to you in My name;  I have not sent them, says the LORD.

                   For thus says the LORD:  After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place.  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me will all your heart.  I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity;  I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.

Notice that God caused them to be taken captive.  He also tells them to build homes, plant gardens, marry, have children SO THAT YOU MAY INCREASE AND NOT DECREASE!  Seek the peace of the city, town, county, state and country that you live in.  Pray to the LORD for it.  If there is peace in the city, town, county, state and country then you will have peace.  Search for the LORD will all your heart.  He will be found!

    

God, Glory or Gold?

 I tried to post this last night but rain interrupted my satellite service TWICE and I lost the post!!  Here we go again.

This week we are finishing up our study of the explorers.  We have been on this unit for about 10 weeks and I am ready for a change!    One thing that we have noticed is how cruel so many of the explorers were to the native people.  Most of the explorers that we studied established settlements in South America, Central America and the islands of the Caribbean.  So much violence resulted in the quest to seek gold and glory.  Most of these explorers were from Spain.  A couple of years ago, Devin and I spent some time in Spain visiting my brother.  We toured a couple of cathedrals and I, being a simple Baptist girl from the South, was appalled at the tremendous amounts of gold used in decorating these cathedrals.  I was reminded of all the indulgences that Luther fought against and was saddened by the tremendous wealth put in these buildings when all around the cathedrals were people who were begging.  Now, we have seen where all the gold came from and how mistreated the native people were.  How they converted to Catholicism at the point of a sword while keeping their pagan superstitions and customs.  Coercion does not lead to true conversion.

We have read about those who explored the southeastern and southwestern US, DeSoto and Coronado, who were searching for gold and the ever-evasive city of Cibola.  The southeastern Indians kept telling DeSoto that, yes, there is much gold...far away from here!!  They were no dummies!  DeSoto and Coronado died with neither gold nor glory.  DeSoto treated the Indians so badly that when other groups began settling in the southeast over 100 years later, the Indians caused all kinds of trouble.

It is very interesting that North America was eventually settled by men who were not seeking gold or glory, but God.  Men who were seeking religious freedom were led to the New World and established many settlements.  I am looking forward to our studies of the colonies and early settlements and those who first came to our shores seeking liberty to worship God as they saw fit and to raise their children for HIS glory.  I am so thankful to be able to learn right along with my children, instilling in them a desire for learning and  desire to seek after God and not gold or glory.  The Lord is so gracious to allow me this time with my children.    Homeschooling is a hard job, but it's the only job I want.

Special Memories

A couple of weeks ago, before the rains began, Jackson and I were doing his "schoolwork" outside on the swing in the front yard. We were reading The Listening Walk by Paul Showers and were having a great time. It wasn't too hot out and there was a gentle breeze that we could hear blowing through the trees surrounding us. We live on a very wooded 8 acres of land. The book follows a little girl and her father as they take frequent listening walks through city, park and country settings. The last words of the book go something like this, "Now, close the book, shut your eyes and just listen. What do you hear? " Well, we closed the book, shut our eyes and listened. And then we heard the leaves rustling behind us. I had just whispered to Jackson that there must be a cat or squirrel behind us when out bounded two deer just to the side of us. It was very exciting! We see deer frequently from INSIDE the house, but have never been outside when the deer appear (except when Jeff and the boys rescued the deer caught in the fence last fall). What a very special mother and son time that God gave us that day! I am so thankful to be home with my children where we can share special times like this. We would have totally missed the lesson of listening and thus missed the reward of seeing the deer if we had been inside. Glad the Lord lead me to go outside for our school time that afternoon.

Chamblee School

This year marks the beginning of a two-year stretch in American history. So very exciting! We love American history and I am looking forward to getting more in-depth with my 10 and 13 year olds and having my almost 17 year old really spending some time in some great reading.

This semester we are studying the exploration period and the early settlement of America. We are using Bright Ideas' All-American History for a spine which includes mapwork and a weekly quiz. Jordan adds to that using the same activities that my older girls did from Far Above Rubies. We are also using my favorite, KONOS, which includes some navigation, sailing and astronomy with the explorers unit. We are also reading LOTS of books about this period. For history we are reading one of our all-time favorite historical fiction books, Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham and The World of Columbus and Sons by Genevieve Foster. Each of my students has weekly assigned reading on the explorers as well. We are doing our history studies on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

On Tuesday and Thursday we are covering geography using Around the World in 180 Days. Because we are only doing this 2 days a week, we will be going Around the World in 360 Days!! I am really liking this curriculum as it is really just a list of activities, questions, or vocabulary covering the geography, culture, religion and current events of each continent. To tie in with our explorer study we chose to begin with South and Central America. Next semester we will cover Africa as my brother will be moving there in the spring. For geography we are also doing LOTS of reading: Missionary Stories with the Millers (covering only those chapters relating to South and Central America and Martin Rattler by Ballentyne. We also have several Henty books that we are reading individually.

We will cover astronomy on the high school level with Signs and Seasons and the younger ones will participate at times. Although I determined NOT to do another pre-designed lapbook, I did get Hands of a Child's Advanced Astronomy lapbook as a freebie from The Old Schoolhouse magazine and will let the middle children work on that as well ON THEIR OWN. I will not stand and lecture them, but make them find the answers on their own. Jeff has an avid interest in astronomy, so I am hopeful that he will do a good bit with them in this study.

Our daily Bible study consists of a reading from the book of Proverbs (yesterday was the 10th, so our reading was Pro. 10), reviewing our memory passage (currently Ephesians 2) and we are using Balancing the Sword currently going through the book of Matthew. Each child also has his own Bible reading before school. We also use this time to read through Bob Schulz' Practical Happiness. We have also read through his Created for Work and really appreciate his messages.

I am not getting everything done with Jackson that I had intended, but we are doing more than we had been! His movie viewing has decreased although he is still on a Roy Rogers kick. In fact, he has been putting gel in his hair and slicking it back to look like old Roy and is currently dressed in his cowboy clothes, as usual.

The children usually begin their day with Bible reading, then individual work which I place in folders, one for each day of the week and they have an assignment list to work through. Breakfast and a few chores follow this time. At 9 we usually gather for our Bible study which includes EVERYBODY, Devin, Jordan, Aaron, Kaelan, Jackson and Caedmon. After our Bible study and prayer time we take a short break to move the laundry from the washer to dryer and fold a quick load, then gather without Devin for our time in either history or geography. Devin then works on chores, practicing her violin or assigned reading on the days that she is home. This generally takes us to lunch time. After lunch is music practice for one hour and then any unfinished independent work or chores are done.

We are doing a couple of things a little differently this year. I have moved Jordan's desk out from his bedroom and into the den. I found that he still needs a little nudge to stay on task and I didn't like him holed up in his room alone, especially as he is working three afternoons a week and I missed him!! Instead of doing the bulk of our school work in the dining room, we are staying in our school room. It has a table, my desk with computer, all of school materials and learning supplies and is open to the den. We have put a gate up so that Caedmon can't get out and we are all in the same room during the bulk of our school day. Caedmon will play happily on the floor in the den or schoolroom while we are reading and discussing and doing other school work. AND my dining room is a little less cluttered as the school books don't generally leave the school room now.

Today was a flip-flop day...individual work and practice times have been completed this morning, so now we need to finish our history reading for the week. Then we need to tackle some chores and planning for next week's lessons which always makes the week a little more pleasant .

How does your week look? I would love to take a peek into your day!

Producers or Consumers? part two

In my last post I mentioned our notebooks. In this post I would like to tell you a little more about our notebooks. When we are studying a particular subject the children make a notebook that will contain all of their “paperwork” which may include copywork, vocabulary, Bible verses, coloring pages, diagrams, maps, drawings, stories or reports. The bulk of our school day may be spent adding to these notebooks. However, our purpose is not just to fill the notebooks but to encourage the children to make the information on the topic their own.

In past years I found it easy to print out encyclopedia entries on people, places and events to add to these notebooks and also used lots of other online printables. I soon realized that doing this was not adding to the children’s knowledge and was defeating the purpose of teaching them to produce their own books and becoming “experts” on the topic through their study. If you look at what we now include you can see how easily we can cover so many subject areas just through our time spent in notebooking. Handwriting, vocabulary, reading, history or science, writing, research, art, Bible and so much more go into producing these notebooks which become treasures in time.

This year my oldest son has been increasingly interested in learning about photography and videography. God sometimes provides wonderful opportunities for His children and my son is now working with his father on The Homeschool Channel which is providing him a wonderful opportunity for hands-on learning all about photography and videography. For the next couple of years this son will be working on notebooks on these two topics as he encounters opportunities to learn from others and as he learns on his own. My hope is that he will be able to turn his notebook into an e-book and share what he learns with others. We are very excited to see how this endeavor turns out!

Raising children can be a messy job, but even more so if you are raising producers. If you can imagine 4-5 children spread out with notebooks, drawing supplies, papers, books, scissors, glue and whatever else they may need to work on their notebooks. You know the old adage, “A messy desk is the sign of a genius”? Well, sometimes a messy house can be the sign of many producers at work. Not only can our “school” time be messy, but so can all of our other activities. Some of my children play the piano and the violin which results in music scattered over the piano, violins out and the music that is being produced can sometimes create an audio “mess”, especially if there is more than one musician playing at a time. My children love to draw, paint, build, and create with the many items stored in our arts and crafts cabinet. A daughter may decide to make homemade bread, cookies or dessert when the mood strikes (and thankfully that is often!)

I have been encouraged to teach my children this way through the writings of Marilyn Howshall, Ruth Beechick, Cindy Rushton, Tina Farewell and Jessica Hulcy. What are some ways that you are raising your children to be producers? I would love to see some of your ideas.

Producers or Consumers? part one

These terms have been on my mind a lot this past year as I contemplate how we spend our time learning here in our home and how we live our lives on a daily basis. With the economy as it is and our future path somewhat uncertain I have been trying to teach my children to be producers and not consumers.

What does that mean in our learning? On the consumer side, we do purchase MANY good books each year to add to our home library. We love reading and all of us spend many hours involved with a good book. Most of our learning in science and history comes from reading “living books”, books that are not textbooks and that can maintain our interest while teaching us about God’s world or about His story. We use very few textbooks in our home. The few we have are for math and a handful of science and history texts used as references.

So how do my children learn anything about science and history if we don’t use a textbook? We read, dramatize, look up vocabulary, write stories and reports about the topic which we include in notebooks, take field trips, draw maps or diagrams, draw pictures, watch movies and documentaries, do experiments, make a timeline, learn to cook dishes from different cultures and time periods and have many opportunities to dialogue along the way. Instead of consuming pre-digested textbooks and workbooks we are DOING and CREATING and making memories along the way.

How does this relate to language arts? If we are studying the mid-1800s the children may write a first person story about a young man who is a rider for The Pony Express and describe a day or a week as he rides along from one station to the next. They may spend a week writing the story, but they have lots of knowledge to pull from because they have been reading books about the topic and I have, most likely, been reading aloud to them as well. When they have finished their stories I will type them up on the computer leaving out all punctuation and paragraph spacing and will include any misspelled words and incorrect grammar.

The next week the misspelled words become their spelling words for the week and we will correct all punctuation and grammar as well. We look at using more descriptive language to make our stories more colorful. This occurs over several days. When we are all satisfied with the results I type the papers up again with all corrections and they are included in the children’s notebooks.

This is a little more time and teacher intensive, but the rewards are reflected in the smiles on the children’ faces when others enjoy the finished product. They have become producers and learn to enjoy the work involved!

A Day in the Garden (and the laundry room)

Today was an outside day and thankfully the sun was shining and the temps were cool! I was able to wash and hang out about 6 loads of laundry (maybe that will take the bite out of my air conditioners running constantly!) Jordan was able to re-till a couple of beds that we had prepared earlier for beans and corn. The tomatoes (36 plants in a large bed) are producing, but so were the weeds, so Aaron, Kaelan and I weeded and weeded and weeded some more. Then we covered the entire area with hay. Hope to keep the water in and the weeds down with all that hay. We were also able to get the green beans in the ground. If they actually grow, we should have plenty of beans. My mom always liked to put up one bag or can of each vegetable for each week of the year. I would LOVE to do that, but we'll see. I think I need to make an outdoor kitchen to do some of that as the house gets so hot when we are in the kitchen all day in the summer. Last winter we created a compost bin and added veggie scraps, egg shells, coffee grounds, grass clippings, leaves and apparently, last years tomato vines! Jeff put the compost in one of our flower beds and it is producing great looking tomato plants right in the midst of the crepe myrtles and hawthornes. I counted about a dozen there. We should have lots of tomatoes for canning and freezing. I would love to can spaghetti sauce and salsa.

Planning for the next school year is constantly in the back of my mind, but I haven't set aside the time to begin. We have purchased Teaching Textbooks for this next year and Jordan has already begun Algebra 2. We have a few NEW things that we will be trying out and I am eager to see how it goes. We will begin a two year stretch in American History starting with the explorers. I love American history and am eager to get back to it after spending the last 3 years in the ancients through the Reformation period. Maybe later next week I can actually get pencil to paper. I have printed out calendars and assignment sheets and would love to get new notebooks purchased as well. Hope to get some of the actual planning written out next week as there most likely won't be any garden work going on for me. I see the surgeon Tuesday afternoon regarding my gall bladder and I am hopeful that he can schedule me in later in the week. I will be "forced" to sit and read through curriculum and do nothing but plan for the next year..... and nurse Caedmon!

Now off to prepare dinner! Should it be spaghetti with homemade basil bread or country vegetables with cornbread? One child says no to spaghetti but the others say yes... What do I want?

Poetry for Copywork

I have always wanted to incorporate more poetry into our school, but have failed to make it an ongoing activity. This week I am changing that....God is changing a good many things around here and I am trying to include those things that I never seem to have time for, but in the long run may mean more than some of the other things we can seem to find time for... Do you regularly incorporate poetry in your school day? Do you have a favorite poem? Is anybody even reading this?

This is Aaron's copywork for the week. I hope to have him memorize it or to at least read it to the rest of the family as per an old-fashioned recitation.

Our Heroes
Phoebe Cary

Here's a hand to the boy who has courage
To do what he knows to be right;
When he falls in the way of temptation,
He has a hard battle to fight.
Who strives against self and his comrades
Will find a most powerful foe.
All honor to him if he conquers.
A cheer for the boy who says "NO!"

There's many a battle fought daily
The world knows nothing about;
There's many a brave little soldier
Whose strength puts a legion to rout.
And he who fights sin singlehanded
Is more of a hero, I say,
Than he who leads soldiers to battle
And conquers by arms in the fray.

Be steadfast, my boy, when you're tempted,
To do what you know to be right.
Stand firm by the colors of manhood,
And you will o'ercome in the fight.
"The right," be your battle cry ever
In waging the warfare of life,
And God, who knows who are the heroes,
Will give you the strength for the strife.

The Finished Product--Aaron's Pony Express Story

Today I woke up at six o’clock. John was making breakfast in the fireplace. I’ve lived here ever since I joined the Pony Express and each day is the same: eat breakfast, saddle a pony, grab the mochilla, and I’m on my way to the next station fifteen miles away. But my work is never boring. No way! Some of the time I have to outrun bands of Indians and sometime I get stuck in a blizzard. The wind howling around feels like a knife on my face. That is much easier to bear than out running the Indians. Our grain-fed ponies are supposed to be faster than their grass-fed ones.

Anyway to get back to the story, John, my partner, was making breakfast. “Good mornin’, Will,” he said cheerfully. “ Ready to ride again?” he asked.

“I guess so,” I said. It was my fourth week there and I was finally getting used to it.

After breakfast I went to the corral and chose a brown sorrel. John brought out the mochilla, the leather pouches that hold the mail, and put it on the saddle.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Will,” he said. “It’s fifteen miles to the next station,” he stated, handing me my colt revolver.

“ Don’t worry,” I said. “ I’ve done this before.”

“Yes,” John broke in, “ but today you are passing through Blackfoot territory.”

“ I know,” I said, trying to hide the fear in my voice, “but you yourself said that if I looked around, rode fast, and shot straight I would be all right.”

“Yes, I know,” said John, “ but I just wanted to remind you.”

“Okay,” I said and galloped away. I rode for about thirty minutes when I heard a deafening war cry. I looked behind me and saw a sight that sickened me. A band of Blackfeet Indians were riding at top speed. Each of them were painted with war paint and had a spear in his hand. I didn’t take time to notice anything else. I dug my heels in the horse’s sides and ran off.

As I was running I checked to see that my revolver was loaded and ready to shoot. Looking up I could see the Indians gaining on me. I thought my horse could out- run any Indian horse! What could the problem be? I soon discovered that my horse was missing a shoe.

I did the only thing I could do. I led my horse over to a large rock and hid him behind it. I climbed up the rock and steadied myself, took my revolver out of my belt and took aim. The shot rang out. An Indian fell off his horse, obviously dead. The attackers still came on. I took aim again and shot. Another fell to the ground but he appeared to be only wounded.

They were very close now. I began to shoot rapidly. Three more fell to the ground before I was surrounded. Nothing could save me now. They forced me to climb down the rock. Two Blackfeet warriors shoved me to the ground. They bound my hands behind my back with a piece of rope. The warrior that I had wounded staggered forward holding his leg. Yelling furiously, he picked up a heavy stick and before anyone could stop him, he raised it above his head and brought it down fast. That is all I remember.

When I came out of my unconsciousness I realized that I was in a tepee. I was tied to a pole. My head was aching terribly and hurt every time I moved it. The buffalo skin hanging over the doorway was lifted and two warriors came in. They untied me and shoved me out of the teepee.

There was an angry crowd of people outside. The warriors took me behind the tepee where we met another crowd of warriors and braves. They all stood in two rows and they were all holding clubs. I could only guess what they were about to do.

I was going to run the gauntlet! I knew enough about it to be very scared. I had to run between two lines of men while they reached out and hit me with the clubs. The chief came forward and spoke to the crowd and pointed to me. An uproar went up from the crowd as two men pushed me to the front of the line. There was nothing for me to do except run through and hope for the best.

Taking a deep breath, I ran forward as fast as I could go. The heavy blows from the clubs were too much to bear. I collapsed to the ground, but after a few seconds got up knowing I would surely die if I stayed there. The pain increased as I ran
along. The savages were hitting with all their might. It seemed as if the line of Indians would never end. It felt like every bone in my body was broken.

At last I burst out of the long line, falling to the ground. I had survived within an inch of my life. The chief came forward and motioned for the braves to lift me up. He stared at me for awhile as if wondering what to do with me. Finally, he grunted and released me. They gave me my horse back while I made sure they had left the mochilla on. Everything was in good condition. Except me.

Painfully, I swung up in my saddle and went on my way. I still had to get the mail to the next express station.

When I finally arrived, the station master took me in and made me lie down on a cot. “I’ll bring a doctor right away,” he said.

When the doctor walked in he felt of me to see if I had any broken bones. It turned out that I had two broken ribs, a broken shoulder blade, and a dislocated hip. He asked me what had happened. I told him the whole story. He said he didn’t know how I survived. He put splints and bandages on my wounds and said with a couple of days rest I would feel better, but it would be a long time before I would fully recover.

Likely, I wouldn’t be riding in the Pony Express any more, but I was grateful I was able to ride at all. I would be leaving for home soon in California. I will always remember riding for the Pony Express.

Kaelan's Pony Express Story and more on our new writing method

Yesterday I posted Aaron's somewhat edited Pony Express story. He has already corrected the misspelled words and most of the punctuation. We need to go back and look at comma usage and when to make new paragraphs. The whole story is one paragraph, but that's ok...we're learning and that will be our topic for this week

Kaelan's unedited story is below. There are several obvious misspelled words, run-on sentences, and punctuation errors that we need to work on. Most of the spelling we worked on last week, but she added more to the story yesterday which included more misspelled words. I hope to have these things addressed this week and our final versions completed by Friday. I think they have enjoyed this assignment so far. They certainly have an imagination!


Yesterday I woke up in the loft in St. Joseph. It was a cold winter dawn. I got up shivering to see if it was still snowing, it was. I got dressed in a hurry, I had to eat my breakfast fast. The Pony Express would be here soon. George is never late. I’d have to tell my stable boy to get my horse ready. Hmmmm....the mush never tasted better. The maid said “Mr. Park! George is here! hurry now, your horse is out frount.” I grabed my gun and hat and dashed out the door. I jumped on my horse and galloped down the rode. I wouldn’t be back for three days. I urged my horse thru the snow. We had to get there before dark. Good thing I left early. Finaly we were in a town. Ten more miles. Wer’e in a long valley. Bang! “Ow!! My arm!” Blood gushed out. Oh...I wish I didn’t yell. If I didn’t get out of here fast a band of injuns wold be on me fast. “Come on Thunder! We gotta get outta here!” As soon as she heard “get out of here” she ran so fast I could hardly stay on the saddle. Wait a minute. We’re here all ready? Hurray! I went right to the station. I opened the door fell right on the floor sound asleep. Boy was I exhosed. When I woke up, the doc was rapping my arm up. He said the bullet went straite thru. He said to stay in bed a couple of days. I said “Sure thing doc, I planned on doing that anyway.” He just busted out laphing. The next day when I woke up, the doc was putting more stuff to stop the pain. He said when I felt less dizzy, I could get up. The cook fixed a good breakfast of fried corn mush, cofee, eggs and cornbread. It never tasted better. The cook said I slept for to days. I said my thanks, got out of bed and ran out the door before anyone could stop me. I had heard Indians on the war path. They’re cries didn’t sound pleasant. I told the boys to get my horse ready fast. When they we’re done, I jumped on my horse fast. We galloped toward the sound of cries. One of the braves shot my hat off. Way too close. There were lots of other men so the battle did not last long. I was rideing back home to the station hopeing I’d be in time for a nice hot bread ‘n’ rabbit stew. I was hoping that the cook would have a nice apple pie for dessert. Mmm,mmm. One mile till home. My horse broke into a gallop. I started whistling “Yankee Doodle!” “Wow!” said I. My horse an’ I were already there. I told my horse to go striaght to the staiyion. Soon as we got there, I jumped off Thunder, ran in the house, to my surprise, the cook, Matilda, had put the food on the table and was eating. She stopped eating and looked at me as if I were a ghost. “Land sakes Jim! You scared the liven’ daylights outta me!” Giggeling, I went to wash my hands. I came back in sat down to eat, and started a conversation like a gentleman.

Aaron's Pony Express Story

Today I woke up at six o’clock. John was making breakfast in the fireplace. I’ve lived here ever since I joined the Pony Express and each day is the same: eat breakfast, saddle a pony, grab the mochilla, and I’m on my way to the next station fifteen miles away. But my work is never boring. No way! Some of the time I have to outrun bands of Indians and sometimes I get stuck in a blizzard. The wind howling around feeling like a knife on my face is much easier to bear than out-running the Indians. Our grain-fed ponies are supposed to be faster than their grassfed ones. Anyway to get back to the story, John, my partner, was making breakfast. “Good mornin’, Will,” he said cheerfully. “ Ready to ride again?” he asked. “ I guess so,” I said. It was my fourth week there and I was just getting used to it. After breakfast I went to the corral and chose a brown sorrel. John brought out the mochilla and put it on the saddle. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Will,” he said. “It’s fifteen miles to the next station,” he stated, handing me my colt revolver. “ Don’t worry,” I said. “ I’ve done this before.” “Yes,” John broke in, “ but today you are passing through Blackfoot territory.” “ I know,” I said, trying to hide the fear in my voice, “but you yourself said that if I looked around, rode fast, and shot straight I would be all right.” “Yes, I know,” said John, “ but I just wanted to remind you.” “Okay,” I said and galloped away. I rode for about thirty minutes when I heard a deafening war cry. I looked behind me and saw a sight that sickened me. A band of Blackfeet Indians were riding at top speed. Each of them were painted with war paint and had a spear in his hand. I didn’t take time to notice anything else. I dug my heels in the horse’s sides and ran off. As I was running, I checked to see that my revolver was loaded and ready to shoot. As I looked up I could see the Indians gaining on me. I thought my horse could out-run any Indian horse! I knew there wasn’t anything wrong with my horse. I soon discovered that my horse was missing a shoe. I did the only thing I could do. I led my horse over to a large rock and hid him behind it. I climbed up the rock and steadied myself, took my revolver out of my belt and took aim. The shot rang out. An Indian fell off his horse, obviously dead. The attackers still came on. I took aim again and shot. Another fell to the ground but he appeared to be wounded. They were very close now. I began to shoot rapidly. Three more fell to the ground before I was surrounded. Nothing could save me now. They forced me to climb down the rock. Two Blackfeet warriors shoved me to the ground. They bound my hands behind my back with a piece of rope. The warrior that I had wounded staggered forward holding his leg. Yelling furiously, he picked up a heavy stick and before anyone could stop him, he raised it above his head and brought it down fast. That is all I remember. When I came out of my unconsciousness I
realized that I was in a tepee. I was tied to a pole. My head was aching terribly and hurt every time I moved it. The curtain hanging over the doorway was lifted and two warriors came in. They untied me and shoved me out of the teepee. There was an angry crowd of people outside. The warriors took me behind the tepee where we met another crowd of warriors and braves. They all stood in two rows and the were all holding clubs. I could only guess what they were about to do. I was going to run the gauntlet! I knew enough about it to be very scared. I had to run through the lines of men on either side while they reached out and hit me with the clubs. The chief came forward and spoke to the crowd and pointed to me. An uproar went up from the crowd as two men pushed me to the front of the line. There was nothing for me to do except run through and hope for the best. Taking a deep breath, I ran forward as fast as I could go. The heavy blows from the clubs were too much to bear. I collapsed to the ground, but after a few seconds got up knowing I would surely die if I stayed there. The pain increased as I ran along. The savages were hitting with all their might. It seemed as if the line of Indians would never end. It felt like every bone in my body was broken. At last I burst out of the long line, falling to the ground. I had survived within an inch of my life. The chief came forward and motioned for the braves to lift me up. He stared at me for awhile as if wondering what to do with me. Finally, he grunted and released me. They gave me my horse back while I made sure they had left the mochilla on. Everything was in good condition. Except me. Painfully, I swung up in my saddle and went on my way. I still had to get the mail to the next express station. When I finally arrived, the station master took me in and made me lie down on a cot. “I’ll bring a doctor right away,” he said. When the doctor walked in he felt of me to see if I had any broken bones. It turned out that I had two broken ribs, broken shoulder blade, and a dislocated foot. He asked me what had happened. I told him the whole story. He said he didn’t know how I survived. He put splints and bandages on my wounds and said with a couple of days rest I would feel better, but it would be a long time before I would fully recover. Likely, I wouldn’t be riding in the Pony Express any more, but I was grateful I was able to ride at all. I would be leaving for home soon in California. I will always remember riding for the Pony Express.

Producer vs. Consumer

I have recently been convicted about having my children be producers rather than consumers. Occasionally I use worksheets to teach my children some of our KONOS topics and have also used preprinted lapbooks. Some of the lapbooks I have used have wound up not being my children's work, although they did all or most of the cutting and pasting, but have simply been fill in the blanks answered from the teacher pages. No actual learning required or needed. I have also used workbooks for teaching grammar and writing.

For years I have "known" that in order to write well one needs to write. I have known that, but not put it into practice. I always hated writing. Hated making outlines, rough drafts and then having to make footnotes, endnotes or whatever. Can you tell most of my writing was only for term papers? I don't remember any writing assignments that weren't except for the ever so dull book reports accompanied by dioramas in grade school. Ten years ago I purchased Marilyn Howshall's booklets entitled Wisdom's Way of Learning. It really encourage me to throw out the grammar worksheets and get my children writing about what they know or about what they are learning, making their own notebooks and becoming proficient in writing while learning about something that interests them. Of course, I had already read Ruth Beechik's book You CAN Teach Your Child Successfully and The Language Wars and knew that great writers did not come about by the study of grammar. But grammar is so easy to teach for this homeschool mom. Just copy the worksheets and have the children fill them in, teach a grammar song or two and bam, you are done. However, this wasn't getting my children to write. In fact, you might think I was torturing them when I suggested a report on jellyfish or Mt. Rushmore or any other topic.

These last couple of weeks I finally bit the bullet and put away the grammar worksheets. We have been doing copy work and dictation for a couple of weeks which is not difficult for them as we have done that in years past. Last week, though, my assignment for them was different. On Monday my lesson plans called for a journal entry from Kaelan and Aaron as if they were a Pony Express rider. The entry must not be less than one hand-written notebook page. Wednesday's assignment was a journal entry as if on the Oregon Trail and Friday's was the same except as if a participant in the Lewis and Clark Expedition. We have been reading aloud about each of these events and they have each devoured several books on each topic on their own. They had plenty of material on which to write.

My idea was to type as written each of their assignments leaving out capitalization and punctuation. They each wrote so much on the Pony Express that I dropped the other two assignments and we have been working on just the Pony Express assignment. With two having the stomach virus our time has been limited. Aaron and Kaelan both wrote about four pages each last Monday and declared them not finished! I got Aaron's typed up with no punctuation or capitalization and the incorrect spelling was left in. The misspelled words became spelling words for the week. He put in all the punctuation marks and capital letters and corrected the misspelled words on the typewritten page. Today he finished his story and I have completed the typed version. We still need to work on the paragraphs, but I am mighty pleased with his work.

Kaelan has completed her story as well. Last week we only worked on the misspelled words as she was sick for the last part of the week. I am very proud of both of them and want to let you all read what they have produced. I will post them later in seperate posts. This method takes more time on my part, but the outcome is much better than the many grammar worksheets that wound up in the trash each day.

Do You Know Where They Are?

http://jimspages.com/States.htm

The link above will take you to a neat game where you are asked to put each state in its proper place. Think you know where they go? Try it and see!!