stepping up to the plate

new beginnings

2011-06-15T14:54:00.001-07:00

This blog is sort of about the homeschooling journey and yes, it is about that. But I think it's more of a journey for me. I start off trekking along my journey, whistling a tune and then there's a creek to cross, then a mountain to climb, and don't forget the marshlands. Those obstacles show up in various forms. They may not even look like obstacles to you, but to me..wow, what a mess. I lay guilt trips on myself and tie what I do to the outcome so tightly that you can't even see the knot. Sometimes I don't even see it and I've forgotten I tied it. Thankfully, others around me are also on their journeys. Their paths cross mine and I'm reminded, "Oh yeah, I'd forgotten I tied that all up." And renewal comes. I'm in a time of renewal now along my journey after lots of tied knots along my way.

I did a truly special thing. I carved out time for meeting up with a like-minded friend who is traveling a similar journey alongside mine. We met at a hotel on the outskirts of Chicago and talked. Then we talked and after that, we talked. I didn't even know the release I needed. I didn't recognize the knots I'd tied, but she did. Those knots of self-denial and outcome based thoughts that blocked my creativity are loosening. My return to this blog is a part of the process to return to joy in my teaching methods and in my life. I have a friend who persistently pursues answers to hard questions.

I hope you have a friend like that.

Wow!

2008-11-11T21:25:00.000-08:00

Gracyn works on her art project for the art show. The theme is "wow!"

Hers is of a page full of dalmations with a bassett in the center. The title is "Bow-WOW!"

Clever?

Looting the Pirate Ship

2008-11-07T08:38:00.000-08:00

Here are the two geniuses playing "loot the pirate ship" which is the game I referred to a couple of posts ago. Here it is again. Cuz, really, it's so good. Also, this is the incredible site the game came from. It has free downloads an is so inspiring to me. It looks like something I'd do if I were more "together." hehe

pics...

2008-11-05T22:24:00.001-08:00

Finally finished our Monster Book of Monsters! So fun!

Here are our skeletons and our special election edition of our homeschool magazine!

Back to posting

2008-11-02T21:07:00.000-08:00

It's been way too long since I posted and there is always so much to post about. Like the past few days, for example. We've done so many wonderful things together. Braeden and I have had a great time playing our new game. You really want to make this game! It teaches so many math concepts at once. He also informed me that the book he was reading had "a lot of strong verbs" in it. I love it! He's reading Daniel Boone and Ralph S. Mouse right now. We are reading books from various genres and also adding up all of our books to reach 100 books. We have our own magazine publishing house right now, too. Our magazine is called "The Hourglass" and our first publication went out a couple of weeks ago with a special election edition due out on Tuesday. We wrote several things for it over this weekend and have it nearly ready. We also examined an owl pellet this weekend (school happens all the time...) and made Q-tip skeletons. It's just so fun doing things together and laughing as we learn.

Marauder's Maps

2008-03-20T19:25:00.001-07:00

The kids had a great time creating marauder's maps. They chose to make the maps of our Smithindor. Gracyn's is the first one you see with the pop-up second story. Braeden's is next which includes the "unknown room." It was fun to see how their minds work and to see how they drew out the space we call "home." They both did an excellent job!

peacock feather quill

2008-02-10T15:18:00.000-08:00

Gracyn had the superb idea to make her loooong peacock feather into a quill for her harry potter writing assignments. You'll have to click on the pic to make it bigger. Very clever.

2008-02-09T15:16:00.000-08:00

Kaegan presents his US Lapbook to his dad!

wizard, Gracyn

2008-02-07T18:59:00.000-08:00

We got a harry potter game for the wii!!

Wheeeee!

It has been so much fun...the kids could hardly stop playing it to eat and sleep!

I also ordered some calligraphy pens to use as quills and Gracyn has been using her loooong peacock feather as a quill. The calligraphy pens make cursive practice fun.

We finished our comic book pages, but I can't get blogger to post it. It turned out great. I kept having to remind the kids that it was a Latin assignment....use some latin words! haha! They had fun with it. We are also still working on our creative writing assignment of making a Monster Book of Monsters. Gracyn wrote the chapter of the Boggart in the Closet as a play and we will soon be acting that out for you! Lots going on! And super fun!

Latin charms and spells

2008-02-05T18:12:00.000-08:00

Here is a preview of the comic book we are creating with our latin charms and spells...

Outstanding

2008-02-02T12:43:00.000-08:00

Braeden learns about the parts and functions of plants in his herbology study. Beautiful cursive writing, too.

Breaden scored "OUTSTANDING" on his arithmancy O.W.L.

hp pics

2008-02-01T21:56:00.000-08:00

Our Crest for the House of Smithindor. The cheetah represents Sara who is speedy. The wolf and snake represent Kaegan and Braeden because they are wild and free. The platypus represents Gracyn because she is completely silly. The winged horse represents Odell and me because we are strong and lovely

Braeden researches herbs.

Hedwig has a letter.

Gracyn's herbology study on chamomile.

Braeden draws tarragon.

Kaegan's Presidents Song

2008-02-01T09:34:00.000-08:00

We take a break from Harry Potter for this report.

the sorting hat...

2008-01-25T11:39:00.000-08:00

After a visit to diagon alley for measurements and purchases of wizarding supplies, we headed to the welcome feast where the sorting hat sorted us all into Smithindor House. Gracyn and Braeden both wrote Smithindor verses for the sorting hat song.

Braeden's Smithindor verse:

The ones who are silly are always in Smithindor.

These crazy people do crazy things,

but however loving they are,

Their sense of humor rings.

Gracyn's goes like this:

Dwell you might in Smithindor,

where you find the clever.

They're not afraid to be themselves,

and their thoughts you cannot sever.

We learned about verse, stanza, and rhyme scheme.

more fun

2008-01-17T18:56:00.000-08:00

There is a lot of reading going on around here. I have many things I want to post about but I need to download more pictures. Today began "magical writing" (writing styles) class. We also began "charms" (latin) class. Braeden drew a cartoon of 2 wizards, dueling and yelling latin phrases. One yells, "aqua-sem" and has water squirting out. The other is yelling, "inflammo!" and fire is shooting out of his. Gracyn also thought of these:

fabulamus: tricks someone into believing your story

viadatum: creates a road or a way out

silvantase: finds a way out of a forest

terrabilse: makes the ground change

portase: makes a gate appear where there wasn't one

Dareduce: makes someone do what you want them to

Creative way to remember those vocab words which we haven't bothered to memorize until now.

It's fun to pretend and learn simultaneously!

Hey, wait a minute!

2008-01-16T17:53:00.000-08:00

Here are G and B measuring and figuring *together* as we take the fun things from Harry Potter and use them to learn math concepts on Tuesday.

At one point, Braeden stopped and said, "Hey, wait a minute! Is this just a fun way to do math?"

harry potter unit study

2008-01-12T20:14:00.001-08:00

It's simply corking to announce our upcoming Harry Potter unit. Our activities will include fun things for 3rd through 7th grades. Here are some of the things my kids can expect:

magic squares

marauder's map

quidditch-additionally, they will be asked to create a version of quidditch themselves

a few of these activities

some of these

pretty much all of these

plus some ideas of my own which include but are not limited to:

arithmacy class (known to you muggles out there as arithmetic):

we will learn about area and perimeter of cupboards and choose which one we might best enjoy living in
we will create a mock diagon alley in which we go from room to room to measure for our robes and wands. we will measure using various units of measure
we will purchase our wizard supplies by converting muggle money to wizard money and the reverse
we will solve logic "potions" problems as in the end of the sorcerer's stone

We will have a reader's theater in which we each choose our favorite dramatic reading from one of the books and present it in our dress robes with snacks served

We will create a newspaper that tells of our favorite parts of a HP book as a report.

We will choose a chapter to re-write as a play.

We will draw our favorite characters according to the descriptions in the book.

owl study

We will create our own "apples to apples" game called, "Quaffle to Quaffle."

Latin practice of latest vocabulary words will be creating incantations using the words.

Letter Writing.

A stuffed, white owl will bring a morning message...either a journal topic or letter to be answered.

And some writing activities will be pulled from a book I like called, "Grammar for Middleschool." It includes some practice forming sentences in the style of J.K. Rowling.

But wait, there's more! In an effort to involve my son with autism, we will be doing some hands-on-montessori-style activities...

We will connect train cars on the Hogwarts Express with words on them to create sentences and talk about grammar topics such as parts of speech and parts of a sentence as well as learn about conjuntions.
We will place macaroni (gluten-free, of course) quotation marks on pre-written sentences from the stories. Then, we will take turns reading the dialogues in play form.
We will practice gauge reading by creating a dashboard of the flying anglia with dry erase gauges.
We will categorize animal cards including reptiles like snakes and shoot falcon paper airplanes at the eyes of a poster of the baskilis to add points together for column addition practice.
We will match keys (correct math answers) to their wings (equations) in a folder.
We will perform other folders that depict the last scenes of the Sorcerer's stone..I haven't thought them all through yet....

Latin, PE, and Math

2007-11-10T16:27:00.000-08:00

Latin vocabulary practice...leapfrog game.

PE for spiderman and his teddybear

Another great PE event...

And another.

Algebra game for Gracyn...Hands On Equations.

Here she is solving for "X."

today's schooling

2007-09-11T18:30:00.000-07:00

Well, today, Gracyn got up and dressed and took initiative to complete her individual work. She worked very diligently and I was so proud. Here is what she accomplished on her own:
poetry memorization
spelling, completing the lesson with 100% accuracy (advanced level spelling with the phonetic zoo)
Math practice sheet (I'd planned to do the next lesson with her and move on, but we'll do that tomorrow)
Read another chapter in Pride and Prejudice (highschool level reading)
Two pages in her Pride and Prejudice companion book--reading and vocabulary work (hs level)
I had some "together" things planned, but she worked so hard and did such an impressive job, I let her have free time instead.

Braeden played GI Joes while the above activities took place. So, he and I did our reading practice and spelling links together, then math and a science/language arts combo lesson. Then we took Kaegan to the school for his time with Susie and we worked on our animal classifications game that we are making together.

Kaegan had an amazingly interactive time with Ms. Susie at school and then we did a little bal-A-vis-X. Soccer and karate were after school. whew!

We got a lot done and had a nice, productive day.

life science

2007-09-08T20:21:00.000-07:00

Here is a life science lesson.... Braeden is learning about animal classifications and what attributes animals have within those classifications. This past week, we talked about fish and reptiles. Here, he dissects a fish by the river after our fishing excursion. It was very interesting, and I think he'll remember it since he got to cut it open himself with his new pocket knife. We unfolded the gills, identified the heart, backbone, stomach, liver, and central nervous system.

2007-04-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

Picture This Bible! Love it! This is the book of

Acts. I have lots more pictures to upload, so check back!

virtual art tour for you and your kids...

2007-03-14T10:10:00.000-07:00

check this out!
http://www.nga.gov/kids/kids.htm
I found this and other virtual tours on the focus on the family website.

assorted goodies

2007-02-13T17:11:00.000-08:00

This is a weekend mother/daughter or father/son retreat to talk about important matters concerning purity. Gracyn and I are very excited to be in the process of planning our retreat together! You can find it from Focus on the Family. We have some friends who did it with their daughter. They loved it.

Here is our new, exciting book full of spelling games. We will be using it with our wordwall, but it would be fun for any spelling program.

Gracyn just finished this historical fiction book and really liked it. It is from the time of ancient Greece.

This is the side of our fridge. We have reinstated "Bible Breakfast" at our house. At the breakfast table, we learn about the entire Bible, beginning with the old testament with Our Spiritual Heritage (see an earlier post for the link) and then we draw as we learn from the book of Acts using Picture This Bible (also a link in the earlier post). The top poster is "Our 24 Family Ways" which we have enjoyed a couple of times through and continue to discuss. The purple and white are where we are in Our Spiritual Heritage.

Here is a zoomed in shot as an example. You can see that it divides the Bible into parts and then divides the parts into parts. There are so many sets of cards that make more and more divisions that we could take this as deep as we want and make it last as long as we want.

This is Our 24 Family Ways poster. It comes with a devotional from Whole Heart Ministries. We have loved it! (coloring books too!)

wordwall graduate!

2007-02-07T11:04:00.000-08:00

Here is Braeden standing next to his "Word Wall" as he graduates to the next level of words to read, spell, and use. We took these words off of the wall and added new, more advanced words. He was very proud of himself. He is quite a good speller!

We have enjoyed the "Working with Words" books by The Four Blocks.

mornings are fun!

2007-02-05T16:47:00.000-08:00

We have gotten into a new routine in the mornings. At the breakfast table, I used to do these fun devotionals with my children when they were little. Then, Kaegan just couldn't handle the sensory input any longer, and I tried lots of approaches without success, and then stopped. Now that he is older and more aware, less over stimulated...I'm trying again. I'm really excited about it. He is also into it. We are doing "Our Spiritual Heritage" and "Picture This Bible." Kaegan stays for what he can handle at the moment and is often in and out, but he gets what he gets out of it, and we are all having fun.
http://www.ourspiritualheritage.com/
http://www.bibledraw.com/

Chore door hangers

2007-02-01T17:50:00.000-08:00

I keep re-vamping how to organize chores and actually implement the plan on a regular basis. I came up with this idea...

I used this template http://www.faber-castell.com.au/bausteine.net/file/showfile.aspx?downdaid=5977&sp=E&domid=1010&fd=0 to make "choor hangers" to go on my kids' door knobs. I decorated them and I'm going to laminate them and use dry erase markers for their daily chores on one hanger, then weekly chores on another hanger. Several others, I used to list extra chores that they can earn money for. At the end of the week, they can bring the hangers to me for some kind of reward.

here we are...

2007-01-31T12:14:00.000-08:00

All aboard for school!!

Welcome

2007-01-31T12:02:00.000-08:00

You have found my homeschooling blog! Welcome!

I decided to go with a sporty little theme...

As I teach my children to step up to the plate, I hope to build in them self confidence, academics, as well as a well-being in their spiritual lives. We are a home-run school! Running things our way at home, utilizing what we choose of the public school's offerings, and hitting homeruns in progress! Stay tuned as I strive to teach my little "rookies" about responsibilities in our family!