I must have this book! Watch this video here:

I keep hearing of this book.  I must have it!  It's going on the wish list, and then maybe I'll pass it around to all of my loved ones...because I love them.

Watch this video clip from one of my favorite bloggers:

http://spunkyhomeschool.blogspot.com/2011/01/one-thousand-gifts.html

Random Winter highlights...

SNOW!...We were buried in about 2 feet of snow total for the week (or so it seems).  No, we do not take snow days off, as tempting as it is when the public school kids are off.  I prefer to reserve some time off for "Sunshine Days" once spring rolls around.  The snow sure is pretty, though!  And the kids had a blast today building forts in it.  Wish I took a pic.  Sorry.

Today...Sister Strings received a Division 1 (Superior) rating on her solo performance at our district Solo and Ensemble.  She played Haydn's Concerto in G major and shined brilliantly until the judge had to make her stop because the piece went over the time limit...And that's with trimming the intros and cutting the Cadenza!  Thankfully this doesn't impact her rating at all. :)  I'm kicking myself for forgetting the video camera!!!!!  Well, we had to leave the house at 6:45 a.m., and my brain is obviously non-functional before coffee at that time.  It was over an hour away, so at least I got us there in one piece!  Of course,  a little Tim Horton's coffee on the way helped.  :)  I promise I'll remember the camera in four weeks when she takes her solo performance to State S&E!  She's nervous about the state level, though, because as a 10th grader, she'll have to perform at the Proficiency I level, which means memorized scales and some sight reading in addition to her prepared solo!  Yikes!  Nothing like playing before a judge!!!!  She also performed in a strings chamber ensemble as well, and they received a Division II (Excellent) Rating.  'Twas an eventful day!

For schooling...lots going on for 4 kiddos, but here's some random highlights that I've really enjoyed recently:

*Drive Thru History DVDs with Dave Stotts...Halarious!  I love these movies and highly recommend them for middle schoolers on up. You can see some samples of some of these at CBD, and here's one of the ones we (my olders, that is) watched this week:  http://www.christianbook.com/drive-history-dave-stotts-rome-want/9781589972759/pd/972759?item_code=WW&netp_id=369212&event=ESRCN&view=details

*Reading George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster with Brother Brass.  She's an amazing story teller!  At first BB was just tolerating this reading time with mom, but now he's kind of getting into it. (There's hope yet!)  The author gives perspective on all of the major characters and events taking place during the various times of George Washington's life.  Right now we are reading about when GW was just a boy (1740-1755) and learning about Daniel Boone, John Hancock, John Adams, Ben Franklin, Catherine the Great, Bach, Fredrick the Great, Louis XV, and Voltaire (just to name a few).  It's interesting...one big story connecting the pieces of the world together.

*Watching two of my weak spellers improve upon their spelling with the use of Spelling Power.

*Watching and listening to my 4th grader read aloud to her younger brother each day after lunch time for 20 min.  They truly bond during this time, and I'm secretly listening to her reading aloud skills while her brother is greatly entertained.  Shhh...

*Listening to my 6 year old read almost fluently from A Beka's 1st grade readers.  He's now half way through the 2nd one.  I'm amazed actually.  He's *supposed* to only be in K (He flew right through those readers!)  I'm just flowing with it...letting him work at his own speed. We only spend about 45 minutes 4 days/week "doing school."  I think he's graduated himself from K, if there ever was such a thing! LOL!  He's also almost done with Explode the Code book 2.  He loves learning.  He's a sponge.  MY BABY is about to lose his first tooth!!!! NOOOO!  It can't be!!!  Where does the time go?

*Learning a new name for the common question mark: ??  Baby Bach has renamed it the "mystery mark."  Makes sense to me.  Don't ask me where that came from, but it made me laugh, and it helps him to read those sentences with question marks properly for some reason.  :)

I love homeschooling!  I'm so glad that *I* am the one who is able to share in these treasured moments of learning and growing with my kiddos and not some nice stranger.  Sure, it's busy, but I'm thankful for this blessed journey!  It passes so quickly!

Celebrating 17 years of marriage!

Hubby and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary this last weekend, and it has become somewhat of a custom for us to visit Frankenmuth, MI during this time as a little get-away, just the two of us.  (It also tends to be Super Bowl weekend, but since we are both somewhat oblivious to this sport, we just enjoy the benefits of the sales/deals that go on at this time...at least we didn't get married ON Super-Bowl Sunday! LOL!) 

During this time of year, Frankenmuth  usually has their big Snowfest competitions in which they bring in HUGE blocks of snow, and then teams work together within a certain time frame to chisel out their creation.  It's quite fascinating to watch.  They also have an ice sculpting competition as well.  It's fun to see what everyone comes up with each year and walk around town.  One of these days we must bring the children, because I know they'd love to see these sculptures in person and be inspired to go home and try to replicate one of them in our back yard (smaller scale, of course).



I think this one won!



No, this is not one of our children in front of the Eagle.



17 YEARS!!!



Comments about our homeschool week...

Brother Brass is doing BJU English 8 with the online video teacher, Mrs. Vick.  It was going well until we hit the verb unit.  She was getting into all of the perfect tenses, and Brother Brass was getting lost.  I think BJU assumes some previous knowledge about the basics of verb tenses and jumps right into the breakdown of the perfect forms, which admittedly can become quite confusing, even for one who enjoys English like myself. We decided to pause the BJU program temporarily in order to backtrack with some basic verb instruction.  Guess what I pulled out again?  Our trusted English PACES.  2 of those 7th grade PACES cover this SO VERY well, in a way that is quite easy to grasp...almost as though they anticipate that the kids will struggle through understanding the lingo associated with verb tenses.  They break it down into bite-sized chunks, giving him time to digest each new level of teaching.  SO, we put BJU on the shelf for the next few weeks in order to wade through these 2 PACES, and then we'll see how he does with the BJU again.  We have access to the BJU online teacher through December of this year, so there's really no rush in getting it done by June.  We can just pick up where we left off come Sept. if we wish, inserting more PACE instruction if necessary along the way.  (BJU Grammar/Writing is only a one-semester course). I figure the combo of these two should give him a nice foundation in the grammar dept.  He's still convinced that Mrs. Vick is the best teacher on the planet!

I'm also not incredibly fond of some of the BJU writing assignments, so we may be choosy about those. They come at the end of each grammar unit. They don't really teach him HOW to write well (IMO), but just give him creative ideas of WHAT to write about and perhaps how to organize it. With that said, though, the grammar teaching portion does do a fairly good job of getting him to apply concepts within his general writing.  I decided to add in Writing Strands for a while, and I'm looking into possibly doing IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) for him next year, but I'm not sure yet.  We intend to emphasize more composition and literature in high school.  I figure the only way he'll will learn to write is if I have him writing more consistently, applying what he is learning.  We'll insert grammar as needed.  ...At least that's the plan for now...

Another thing for Brother Brass is that we started reading George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster this week as a read aloud (just him and me).  I thought he might balk at the idea, but it turns out that he's actually enjoying the stories, and so am I.  This is a nice complement to his American History/Geography textbook studies. 

Sister Strings...Well, she's back to reading the BJU World History book, BUT this time it's with mom.  Yes, we are reading through it together and discussing the content rather than getting caught up in the tests and quizzes and memorization of details.  (I like how BJU adresses the world religions aspect of history).  She's still continuing with the MOH vol. 2 readings as well (she likes this) along with other extra reading to enhance her history studies.  Currently we are also listening to G.A. Henty's Beric the Briton on audio CD when in the car.  This is historical fiction set in the time of the Roman Empire.  I've decided that I want for her to spend her history time more wisely each day, with an opportunity to digest a variety of history materials thoughtfully instead of being forced to use that time for memorizing facts for tests that she'll probably forget later.  Oh, and she'll continue to do map work as well along with the Audio Memory Geography Songs CD, which is working out well. 

Normally Sister Strings is a very independent learner and quite responsible, however, I think she's in need of some more "face time" with mom, so some of these changes are an effort to accomodate that and keep those lines of communication wide open.  It's so easy to find yourself neglecting the needs of your first born when she's so naturally responsible and reliable, KWIM?  I was reminded of the Lord this week just how crucial this time period is in her life in order to coach her along on the path of maturity.  She is such a blessing to me, and I cannot take her for granted.  She's acutually happy to have me reading aloud to her once in a while again...especially when it comes to the tough vocabulary that you find in BJU World History.

Miss Melody... is STILL loving her A Beka Academy online streaming teacher!  STILL wants to continue with this for next year.  She aced her math test #6, which is amazing to me, because I think A Beka math is quite tough for this level.  However, I truly think the "magic" is in the teaching.  This teacher is amazing!  Really.  Miss Melody also completed her unit on verbs in her Language A book and did "OK" on the test.  Guess who's teaching that subject?  (Me).  OK, verbs are tough, that's all there is to it! LOL!  She will also be starting Writing strands next week. 

Spelling Power is going really well for both Miss Melody and Brother Brass. 

Baby Bach...  is convinced he's in 1st grade because he got Jump Start 1st grade (computer game) for Christmas.  LOL!  Actually, he really is sort of there skill-wise, but don't tell him that.  I'm not officially calling him a 1st grader until next September (He only just turned 6 late Nov).  He's already to the Orange Chart in A Beka Phonics, though, in which he's already in the know of some of those sounds due to his SSRW music CD's/games.  We spend about 30 minutes on formal schooling per week.  He's not too much into the girly crafting thing though, and doesn't really like to color too much, although his handwriting is pretty good when he tries, both upper and lower-case.  He likes action like his daddy and big bro. I read recently how girls are "nouns" and boys are "verbs" when it come to writing, and I think this is true for my boys...all of them. LOL!

...SUCH IS HOMESCHOOLING...

What I'm currently reading...

Large Family Logistics:  The Art and Science of Managing the Large Family by Kim Brenneman
 Link:  http://www.amazon.com/Large-Family-Logistics-Kim-Brenneman/dp/1934554499/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295730112&sr=8-1

*So far, I love this book!  Even if I don't use every idea, I love the spirit and heart of this book and wish that I had something like this given to me at my baby shower 15 years ago...or maybe my wedding shower 17 years ago...  It's quite difficult at times learning the logistics of home management (yes, even so many years later) when you've spent the better part of your lifetime growing up AWAY from home, managing the art of schooling, the classroom, extra curricular activities, and how to help advance someone else's business, but when it comes to the home, well... 'nuff said. :)  I need help.  I'm thankful for books like these and the women who have taken the time to write them in very practical terms.  I highly recommend this one, whether you have 2 or 20 children. 

--------------------

The Winds of God by Gilbert Morris

*This is book #2 in a series called the Wakefield Dynasty, which is Christian historical fiction that takes place during the 1500's.  I love British time period stories, and this book series is really well done in a very honorable way, in that it reveals the good, bad, and ugly of the British Monarchy, along with those historical characters who stood for truth during this time period.  It draws you into understanding what life would have been like to live (or die for the sake of Christ) during the times of Martin Luther, William Tyndale, King Henry the VIII, King Edward, "Bloody Mary", and Queen Elizabeth (which is where I'm at right now in book 2).  It's actually quite tastefully done without watering down the truth, and I'm considering having Sister Strings read these if she wishes (which I think she's eager to do).  I think this series will be a nice addition to her world history studies...at least from what I've read so far.  I would definitely recommend them for a mature young adult. (Sister Strings is 15.5).

Just a few curriculum changes for the new year

So far, so good with most of our curriculum choices for this school year.  One of the wonderful aspects of homeschooling that I thoroughly enjoy is the flexibility to be, well...flexible in our educational choices.  My oldest two are polar opposites when it comes to learning.  One has an artistic, self-motivated flare about her learning, and I'm confident that she could get a quality education with a library card and the Internet alone.  However, her mother is much too structured to allow so much random freedom.  Her brother, OTH, just thrives with traditional, predictable textbooks, which are very compatible with his OCD, yet he needs to be stretched in learning to think outside the box a bit.  The younger two seem to be a nice mix so far, so we'll have to wait and see how their learning styles develop over the years.  So much diversity around here, and finding what works best for our family as a whole is always an interesting challenge, but one that I wouldn't change for anything!  Also, I'm not ignorant to the fact that there are simply times that we all just need to learn to buckle down and do work that we don't particularly feel like doing and press on.

Anyways, Sister Strings was having a difficult time with her BJU World History online.  The online feature made it into a VERY difficult course load for history, and quite frankly, it was sucking the joy of learning right out of her.  I thought the lectures would be a little more interesting, as the lower levels of BJU teaching seem to always utilize lots of drama, visuals, demos, outside video footage, etc. in order to bring the subject to life.  Not so with this WH course.  It's mainly just all lecture, and much of it was kind of going over her head, especially when he dives deeply into political emphasis.  I found myself bored watching some of them myself, and I love history!  SO...we decided to drop BJU online for this one course.  We still have the books that we may reference on occasion, but for the most part, we are going to shift to a more natural, joyful (for her) way to learn the rest of world history for this year, while also focusing our attention more on geography as well.  She will use A Beka's 7th grade World History text and Maps book as a spine for the factual info (beginning with ch. 7), and then get the more narrative aspect of history from other various resources, such as MOH (Mystery of History) vol. 2 CDs, Diana Waring's CDs, G.A. Henty novels on CD, other Historical fiction, etc.  Since she loves to sing, she'll also use Audio Memory Press' Geography Songs CD.  The 7th grade A Beka WH text is surprisingly meaty.  Certainly much more world history than I ever received, and most of all, she will continue to learn it within the context of biblical history and principles without it being information overload, which is the feeling she was getting from the BJU course.  I'll have her continue with MOH vol. 3 for next year, along with her U.S. history studies (via ACE), in order to keep it in the context of world history.  I just love how those MOH books read.  I find them so interesting!

For the others, the only change that was made was in spelling.  Both Brother Brass and Miss Melody will be doing Spelling Power for the remainder of the year, which we already own and have used before.  I need for our Spelling time to be short, simple, and to the point.  I may also do some more with them in the studied dictation department, but just once in a while.  They both get vocab study from their reading/lit courses for now.

Also, I'm saving the CLE Bible course for Baby Bach for next year, when his reading skills are more up to speed.  It's a great course, and I think he'll do better with it if I wait a little longer.  For now, we'll stick with reading his Beginner's Bible and doing the Rod and Staff ABC series Bible plus coloring book.

Other than that, everything is going really well for this year.

Christmas 2010 Highlights

Well, we're back into the swing of schooling officially as of today, after about 3 weeks off for Christmas.  When I say "off", though, I chuckle because it's not really "off."  The only break that occurs during this season is in respect to putting the school books on the shelf for a few weeks, although, I did manage to finally complete a novel that I've been meaning to read, so I guess there was a smidgen of R&R in there somewhere. :)  Between music concerts, decorating, baking, cooking, planning, family and friends getting together, and, of course, the shopping and wrapping, let's face it: Christmas is work! LOL!  I'm exhausted, but in a good way.  It's a reminder that I'm surrounded by life and so much to be thankful for.  This Christmas, though, we all had something extra special to be thankful for:

This is my brand new niece!  Isn't she a beauty!?  Her parents and 10 year old big brother waited a long time for this wonderful blessing, and we are all so very thankful to finally hold her in our arms!  There's just nothing that compares to the gift of life, and what a wonderful time of year to be reminded of the ultimate gift of life and hope that we have in our savior.  God is so good!

And then here are some more recaps of some of our family get-togethers with both my side as well as my husband's.  (Although, it seems to be increasingly difficult to get everyone together these days, as the kids grow older and life's busyness takes over)...

 The cousins at Nana's...decorating baked goodies, of course! :)

 And more cousins...dogs too...

Overall, we had a wonderful Christmas celebration, and I'm very thankful!  Even in the midst of the busy schedule, we still made it a priority to fix our hearts on the real reason for it all that has nothing to do with us except our need for a savior.