Another year older!

Miss Melody turned 11 years old this weekend!  We celebrated on Friday with her very, dear close friend, who happened to be born just two days before Miss Melody in the same hospital, with a brunch at Cracker Barrel and yet another trip to the zoo.  Yep, that annual family pass has more than paid for itself and then some!  My girls just LOVE animals.  Period.  And it was worth it, even though it was quite chilly. Miss Melody loves the Lemurs the best, but I'll spare you all from any more zoo animal pictures, lest you think that's all we do over here.  Let me just say, though, that I'm convinced that fall is the best season to visit the zoo!

 The zoo just put in a new carousel ride, which we had to try, of course.

 These two silly girls insisted on this picture for the blog. LOL.

 Of course, adults can still have fun too, right?  He only lasted about 20 feet with me on his back. My kids thought it was hilarious to see mom and dad like this.

 ...Making a wish... (and never mind that odd-looking #1...it looks just fine from the front!)

Brother Brass got her a mug from the zoo, and she was totally touched.  Why?  Because Brother Brass has a thing about making company either coffee or tea, lighting candles, turning on the classical music (which is sometimes his Star Wars sound track), and creating this ambiance of pleasure in our home.  His new thing is to make tea (I won't let her drink coffee yet :)  for his sis once in a while, and she just eats it up.  He felt it was important for her to have her own mug, since he's got his own mug collection going.  These two are so funny sometimes.  This may seem like nothing to some, but for a mom of a child who has extra challenges in life to overcome with his TS, OCD, and ADD, these are treasured moments in a mother's heart.  The mug was totally his idea, and I love this bond that they share. :)

I LOVE MY KIDS!

School Notes: Week of 10/3

Baby Bach...

*Discovered this week that he likes doing dictation.  I started dictating to him some of the "special sounds" from his A Beka phonics charts, as well as some short vowel words, and he thought it was like a game.  I let him use a white board to write on.  I think he's going to like it once we start the All About Spelling program that I plan to start here in the near future for both him and Miss Melody.
*Got a perfect score on his math test and completed 4 more lessons.
*Copied his first full sentence from just looking at a model from a distance (without having it displayed for him on the paper), and realized that spaces between words are important. He got the capital letter and period correct, though. :)
*Read a few more stories from his A Beka reader and is getting better with fluency and figuring out longer words.
*Enjoyed "researching" with Miss Melody about praying mantises

This visitor came knocking on my laundry room window yesterday morning, and our math time had to be altered in order to accommodate a praying mantis capture/rescue mission.  He now resides IN my laundry room in this butterfly habitat.  My kids (and husband) have been feeding him spiders, and it's fascinating to watch him eat.  I suppose we'll try to keep him for as long as he'll last.  He'd just die out there in the cold eventually anyways.  He's huge!  I think he's almost 4 in. long.  Miss Melody just recently learned about these creatures in her A Beka book, and she was quick to inform me that they are entirely trainable and make great pets.  He actually recongnizes her, I think.

In addition to her insect research, Miss Melody has...

*Completed some more reading and copywork from her Who is God? book
*Completed 6 math lessons in her CLE math (much of it is still review)
*Started learning about southern/central Asia
*Completed 3 lessons in BJU English, with an emphasis on learning the difference between dependent and independent clauses
*Did dictation for spelling
*Learned more about light with an experiment on creating a rainbow using a home-made spectrum and tying in her knowledge of light with how the human eye works.

Brother Brass...

*Did well on his first English test
*Was satisfied with a B on his history test, but confesses that he could probably do better if he studies more
*Got an A on his A Beka Prealgebra test, covering the beginning of the Algebra unit. 
*Not sure he likes the idea of using algebra to figure out story problems... (way too abstract for him)
*Completed 4 lessons in Physical Science and is still keeping up so far
*Saw a picture of a normal human liver, compared with a fatty liver and a cirrhotic liver, and decided that a healthy lifestyle may be worth pursuing...

Sister Strings...

*Spent all week watching Chalkdust Algebra 1 videos in order to review and gain some more perspective in the world of Algebra with some successful light bulb moments
*Started another writing unit and completed 5 BJU literature lessons, which she loves!  BJU American lit follows a chronological historical perspective, so she's getting a lot of history teaching, context, and review with that as well.  She especially enjoyed several excerpts from William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation this week.
*Completed 4 Physical Science lessons
*Is almost done with her 2nd American history PACE and is learning to highlight and take good notes on important details to remember in all of her classes
*Was pleased to submit her final copy of her last writing assignment for the blog...

Page one

page two

School Notes: September 2011 -Part 3

And to conclude our review of September...

Together we:

*Watched all of the Demolishing Strongholds DVDs by AiG, which were absolutely excellent!  We LOVE AiG stuff over here!  The kids were begging for more.
*Learned some Geography songs for studying Asia
*Started memorizing some Westminster Shorter Catechism via Training Hearts, Teaching Minds
*Completed Lesson one of Apologia's Worldview book 2: Who Am I? And What am I Doing Here?

Baby Bach:

Doing oh so well with A Beka's Math Track online teaching!  Math started out as easy review for him, but I like that he's getting that, along with polishing up writing his numbers well and consistently.  The auditory aspect of this teaching is very good for him.  He's memorized John 3: 14-19 along with several new poems and songs with his "class." 

 He's currently in the process of learning the special sounds on the 3rd from the last chart in his A Beka phonics, while going back to the beginning charts to review via his Letters and Sounds workbook.  My goal is to get all of those "special sounds" introduced to him early on, because I know once they get reading, they can learn so much more.  He's already able to pretty much read most basic directions on his own, which is a plus. :) 

Once we get through all of the A Beka charts so that he's familiar with most of the special sounds/groupings, I plan to start him in spelling with All About Spelling level one. 

He also really enjoys his Draw, Write, Now book for art and writing, and he completed the first LU of CLE LA.

Miss Melody:

Bible/Worldview:  Completed 2 lessons in Apologia's Who is God? book (she listens to the CD while she reads along, and she also does some copy work from there)

Math:  Is zipping through CLE's level 400 math since much of it is review from her A Beka teaching from last year.  There's a little more geometry taught in CLE, though, which she likes.  I suspect we'll be ready to start the 500 level just after Christmas at this pace.  Actually, I could probably do that now, which I may just do because I have to order the next 5 Light Units soon anyways. I might just order that first LU in the 500 level and just fill in gaps that way with review.  Hmm...  She likes CLE math, though.

LA:  The CLE LA was not a good fit for her. She needs more of a mastery approach here.  She has just started using BJU's oline streaming 6th grade English course.  We have the online teaching available to us through next Dec. 2012, into her 6th grade year, so we'll just take our time working through this book.  She's so excited to have a turn using BJU DLO!  We are also doing some dictation with Simply Spelling, as well as some penmanship practice with A Reason for Handwriting book F. 

Science:  Loving her A Beka 5th grade book.  She completed chapters 1 & 2:  Investigating Nature and The Amazing Mammals.  We just started the 3rd chapter, which is about light.

History/Geography:  Completed 3 chapters so far:  An Intro to History/Geography, Fertile Crescent: The Cradle of Civilization, and Ancient Middle East.  She is currently studying chapter 4, which is about the Middle East today, and we both love all of the Bible connections.  The geography teaching is just excellent.  Not too overwhelming...Written with a 5th grader in mind. :)

Books Read: 
With Daring Faith:  A Biography of Amy Carmichael by Rebecca Henry Davis (BJU book)
Winter with the Moodys by Sarah Maxwell

Brother Brass:

Math:  Started A Beka Pre-Algebra, in the Algebra- unit 3, using the teaching DVD's that I purchased via ebay last year. (This is the old edition).  I think we'll continue with this for a while, as there is quite a bit of business and consumer math teaching as well as a unit on geometry and even some Trig.  He's not quite ready for Algebra full steam ahead yet.

English:  ACE PACES are going well.  He focused on the history of the English language along with lots of outlining in his first 9th grade English PACE, which he completed and will be tested in on Monday.  He's also working slowly through his Etymology PACES for both spelling and vocab.  They are working really well for him and his strongly visual learning style. I hope to get through half of these this year and the other half next year. 

History:  Got an A on his first World History test, covering chapters 1-3, and seems to be retaining well from his A Beka class.  The teacher is actually quite funny at times.  The constant reveiw and drill is very good for Brother Brass.  This course gets an A from me so far! :)

Science:  Got a B on his first Physical Science test and is really liking doing his science with Sister Strings this year.  Again, the video teaching is going well.  They are both learning and retaining.  The are studying atmosphere and weather right now, which is an interesting topic for both of them.  This will be a challenging course for Brother Brass.

Health:  Loves this!  I wrote my own lesson plans for him, using A Beka's 8th grade health text, Apologia's Human Anatomy/Physiology text, and this website with Anatomy games:  Anatomy Arcade

Books Read: 
A Father's Promise by Donnalynn Hess (BJU book) 
Adam and His Kin by Ruth Beechick  *He actually liked this book and afterwards commented, "That Ruth girl is a pretty good writer, Mom." LOL

Sister Strings:

Math:  Has completed 1/3 of Teaching Textbooks Algebra 2, but we've decided it doesn't offer enough explanation, thorough teaching, and examples for our taste.  She's going back to using Chalk Dust company's Algebra 1 book and CD's (which we already own) for review and to complete the final few chapters, which happen to overlap with TT Algebra 2 book.  Actually, it covers pretty much everything that you find in TT Algebra 2. Chalk Dust tends to be more advanced, while TT tends to lag behind in terms of scope and sequence.  After she completes this, she'll go on to Chalk Dust's Geometry course. At least, that's the plan for now.   

English:  Completed her first writing project using Apologia's Jump In Writing course, which turned out to be a very good essay.  I'll post a link once I figure out how to do that on this blog.  I like that this course is teaching her how to organize her writing.  Her content is very strong, but she needed some instruction on how to organize her brilliant thoughts better. She also just started BJU's American Lit course online.

History:  Completed her first PACE in U.S. History with a strong A.  Loves the stories she's reading out of For You They Signed (Boyer), and is liking that history doesn't take her forever to wade through each day.  I thought the History PACES might bore her a bit, but she doesn't mind them so much.  She's learning a lot, actually.

Science:  Got a strong A on her first test.  Really enjoys doing this course with her brother.  She was able to help him learn scientific notation.  Yes, she knows it better than I do.  She will make a great homeschool mom one day. :)

Books read: 
I Kissed Dating Good-bye (Harris)
Do Hard Things (Harris)
The Hiding Place (Corrie ten Boom)
More Than a Carpenter (McDowell)

Everyone also started back up with our homeschool music company, including the younger two this year, which is new.  They are all singing in choir, and Sister Strings continues to play her violin.  Brother Brass had to choose between choir and intermediate band this year, and he chose choir.  I'm not sure if he'll continue French horn or not.  Miss Melody and Baby Bach are thrilled to have their turn to participate in a group. 

School Notes: September 2011 -Part 2

The Art Gallery

Sister Strings likes to sketch on real paper too... :)

 Miss Melody is trying to get in on the graphic art design per Sister String's training, of course.  This is her first graphic design using the mouse, and she wanted me to share it here.  Sister Strings just loaded something for art, don't ask me what, on Miss Melody's computer, so I'm sure there will be more to come...

Baby Bach's contribution...

Remember, Honor, Reflect... by Sister Strings

10 year anniversary since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on our country

School Notes: September 2011 -Part 1

Phew!  September flew by fast!  It seems like just yesterday that the public school kids in MI all started back to school the day after Labor Day, like they do every year.  We chose to go to the zoo that day, in order to celebrate the public school kids going back to school.  You see, we live in neighborhood that is swarming with children, and for some reason, our home is like a magnet to them.  Once *they* have to go back to school too, we get a lot more done around here with less distraction. LOL! Here are some highlights of our big zoo -Day after Labor Day- day...

 This guy's name is Lee.  He's sitting on top of an under ground transparent tunnel.  We're watching from below.  He totally knew he had an audience!

 He followed us to another window, with his toy...

 ...And thought he'd entertain us some more by rubbing his nose against the window making squeaking sounds, which made everyone laugh.  He put on this captivating show for about 30 minutes, which had my kids' full attention, before he finally got out of the water.  He did practically everything except take a bow. LOL!  It really was pretty funny.  I've never seen a live polar bear this close before!

 My boys...

 The otters played and played...so cute!

 Miss Melody even got some hands-on learning that was relative to her current science studies.  This picture doesn't show it, but she found goldenrod jungles all over the zoo, which is what her A Beka 5th grade science has been teaching her all about.  She thought it was so cool to see "her science" all over the zoo.

 ...Attack of the polar bear... Having a good time, obviously...

 My gang...

 These two photos remind me of a movie...

Simba, is that you?

 Yep, this is how I look when I'm deep in thought too...

Uh...I don't think I've ever seen these guys actually hop in person before.  This guy jumped right across our path.  Very cool!

What a great way to start out the official "Back to School" day in MI! 

School Notes: Week of 8/29

This week of school only entailed Thursday and Friday due to the fact that we were watching my friends' children while they were away on a trip M-W, but we still managed to accomplish something this week and keep the momentum of establishing a routine in motion.  We will also take Monday off for Labor Day...and possibly Tuesday too, for reasons that will be explained next week if we do. :)  It's actually nice to have a couple of short breaks in the midst of just starting up anyways, as it allows for me to have some "breathing room" to assess how things are going and establish somewhat of a mental routine for myself.

With four kids to talk about on this blog, I'm sure I won't list everything they do each week, but my goal is to try to capture some of the highlights of each week as much as possible and showcase some of their accomplishments.  I have discovered that "threatening" to post their work publicly is a great motivator for doing their best work. LOL.  ...at least for some anyways.

 During Group Time, we've been using our Geography Songs CD to learn the various countries of Asia.  Of course, they all helped assemble this Global puzzle, but this is a photo of Sister Strings DISassembling it so that she could have her turn to do the countries.  It's a cool puzzle because the country pieces are actually shaped like the countries rather than the typical jig-saw design.  Our puzzle-loving Grandma would love this!

And, what do ya do when Mom's friend brings her home a small chunk of fudge as a treat for watching her kids while gone, but Mom won't let you eat it all?  Why you make your own! Yes, that's what Brother Brass decided to do here.  Peanut Butter and Chocolate fudge. Yum! ...Home Ec?  LOL.

 ...Baby Bach decided that he loves this new school book (sorry, I forgot to rotate the pic)...

...And produced this for his first assignment.  Not bad for one who typically does NOT like to draw or color at all.  I think we'll be using this once/week.

...And Miss Melody is enjoying her A Beka science and History the most.  Here's a sample out of her Geography book that goes along with her History.  I love how A Beka teaches not just map work, but geography skills and terminology along with their history books...and it's a very mom-friendly curriculum...very easy to use.

So far, everyone is progressing nicely through their lessons, and the schedule is working wonderfully in keeping everyone, including myself, on task and working diligently.  I especially like the 30 minute group time that is scheduled each day for my older three.  It's just long enough to allow for me to get some miscellaneous "stuff" accomplished with them without interrupting the flow of our independent learning schedule.  Next week I plan to start back up with our IEW (writing) DVD instruction.  We started it last spring.  It may be another short week though...stay tuned.

Back to school 2011

Monday was the kick off to our 2011-12 school year, and the whole week went surprisingly well!  I think this is the best first week that we've had yet.  I'm sure it helps that my kids are a little older now and that we have been doing a little bit of math throughout the summer, not to mention that this is our 10th year of homeschooling!  10 years!!!  It really doesn't seem like that long, though, as this is just part of our normal lives now. Sometimes that line between the words "school" and "education" become a little blurry for us homeschoolers, as it's an ongoing thing, really, whether there are books involved or not.  Nonetheless, "school" has officially begun this week in our household.

The first day, we did not follow any set schedule, as my goal was to have an "orientation" with each of my pupils one by one.  I explained the schedule, rules, expectations, and new books.  Even so, we still managed to get about half of our subjects done for the day.  By doing this, though, we were well-prepared to dive in full-steam (for the most part) on Tuesday.  I'm telling you, that schedule works itself.  (See my homeschool curriculum link if you haven't seen it yet).  Everyone settled very quickly into their new books and assignments, which were well received with fairly good attitudes even.  Everyone is quite happy with what they "get" to learn this year, especially Baby Bach, as he's now officially joining the ranks this year as a first grader. He absolutely loves his video teacher, which he uses for a few subjects.

Here are a few photos of the kids at work (I didn't include much of Sister Strings this time, as she was the main feature of my last blog post...It's tough to keep up with four kiddos!):

 Watching math, Bible, habit training, and activity time online...

 activity time-art

 Language Arts...

 Starting a new English PACE...

 P.E. ???

 more photography from Brother Brass...He LOVES meteorology...

More graphic art features from Sister Strings (this one is done with a mouse)...

 And yes, this is our dog...posing for Sister Strings' next art project...

This one is for ME! ♥ (Done with her new writing tablet)