Second Week of School

We are already nearing the end of our second week of school for this school year. If the first two weeks are any indication, the year is going to fly by!

We have been studying the early explorers for the past two weeks. I realized today that it was really sinking in when we were watching The Princess Bride. They mentioned Fesick (sp?) was from Greenland, to which Little Bit chimed in with "Oh, he must be a Viking!" Yes, she has been listening!!! Yay!!!!

While the kids were watching the movie, they were also working on a science experiment. They were designing and building "buildings" that were earthquake proof. And the materials? Fettucine and Jumbo Marshmallows. Fun, fun, fun! I think I would live in the building Big Brother made.....we couldn't shake it apart for anything----

They are having a blast, and so is Teacher (yes, that would be me). I'm learning right along with them (why am I just learning that Kublai Khan was the grandson of Ghengis Khan?!). Maybe I just wasn't listening in school when I was a student.....hopefully my kiddos will retain more than I did!

We'll be taking a nice break in October when the weather cools off. Tomorrow morning we're starting the day at the pool-----what else would we do in the summer?!!!!

I'll have to take some pictures of their projects as we go along and post them on here.

More later......

Back to School

Well, it has been FOREVER since I updated this blog. Sorry guys! We have had a very busy summer. We started out at the NCHE Conference in Winston Salem back in May. We had the best time. I took both of the kids with me (was wondering if they would get bored).....absolutely no boredom! My oldest was totally taken with John Stonestreet of Summit Ministries-----we went to every single workshop. He had such a way of presenting worldview---we're going to do the Summit Ministries (summit.org) middle school curriculum this year. The atmosphere there is so exciting----and the talent show was amazing-----wow those kids have talent!

After the conference, we came back to VBS. Oh what fun at Son Roch Kid's Camp! Nothing like it! The kids had a blast, and so did their Mommy!

Add to that, lots of swimming, lots of visits with friends, my oldest turning 12 years old (where did the time go?!!!), and we'll end it with my youngest turning 10 (double digits as she likes to say!).

I'm firmly entrenched in lesson planning right now. The kids are so ready to start back----and they have huge plans for our year...... Ancient History AND American History, Latin AND Spanish, Grammar, Book studies, Bible, Art (no Mommy is NOT artistic!), Math, Science, Vocabulary and LOTS of field trips----museums, etc and we hope to get to Homeschool days at Williamsburgh, VA.....I also want to get to the Lost Colony. So, ultimately, we're off to the races----starting August 3.

I'll try to do a better job of keeping everyone up to date on what we are learning and doing this year. I think this will be our most exciting year so far......

Off to the Ancient Americas

Well, this week and next we're off to the Ancient Americas---studying the Inuits, Mound Builders, Cliff Dwellers, and the Maya (even though they're not as "ancient") . Finally bit the bullet and bought a rolling pin----really need one for all of those cookie dough maps that we're making! I think this next week we'll try our hand at weaving and gourd rattles. Also made blogs for the kids. They get to do a little writing most days in a fun way that they don't mind keeping up with. Always trying to find fun ways to improve those writing skills!

I'll post our pics of the Ancient Americas and our weaving project late next week. Have a great weekend everyone!

Love
Sharon

Our Schoolroom, Part 2

Ya'll TLTers had so many great suggestions, I couldn't fit them on one post!!!

I was having a hard time finding wall space for a world map. Our schoolroom is in our dining room, and it's all archways and windows. So, I found this awesome world map shower curtain at Target. Gotta love it. Now we even have school in the bathroom!

Some more artwork---and posters----we have posters of the 10 Commandments, Names of God, and the Trinity covering every possible wall.

By the way, that skeleton picture of Big Brother's was done when he was in public school and was chosen from all of his school to be in the Gifts of Gold display downtown. It was a great honor for him. You can tell that he was at my side as I was studying anatomy and physiology in nursing school!

Love the rocking chair----use it for read aloud time whenever I can.

I have book shelves on every wall that doesn't have posters. These are $30.00 specials from Target that I assembled myself. I figure I'll get my $90.00 worth even if they don't last forever! And I have some "fill room" on them-----Must Buy Books!!!!

Anyway, thank you all for all of your suggestions. They really helped and our "apartment-sized" school room has all that we could hope for, and we were able to do it pretty cheaply. Couldn't have done it without you TLT guys though!


Love,
Sharon

Our Schoolroom Part 1

Right after the TLT birthday party in May, I got busy on the loop and I posted a request for everyone's suggestions for things that they couldn't live without in their schoolroom and what they thought was a waste of time. Overwhelmingly, everyone said "you need bookshelves!" Well, this post and the next one are going to be pictures of how our schoolroom ended up, thanks to your suggestions. Took me a while to get it the way I wanted it, but now we love it.

Thought I'd start with a bit of artwork that we have displayed. Can you tell we're studying bugs?

the top one is Littlebit, and the bottom one Big Brother----

I have lots of book shelves, and the green bins are full of art supplies. The pillow is for lounging on the floor at reading time. I also have nails along the top edge of the bookshelf and I hang my white board there. When it's not in use, it goes beind the bookshelf.

Don't blink----the desks are actually clean!

Just because I couldn't fit all my pics in here, there will be a part 2 to this post.

Thank you, thank you, thank you all for your wonderful suggestions!

What a fun day!

Well, we had a great day of PE and home ec today---sledding, snowman, and s'mores---what could be better! What a blessing. It has been so long since we've seen snow. The kids had a blast sledding (both on sleds and on their tummies!)








7 inches of snow in Raleigh-----boy it's been a while since we've seen that! We all had so much fun!

Love,
Sharon

SNOW DAY!

Well, it is snowing for real today. Littlebit woke me up at 4AM (yes you read that right) to let me know that it had snowed and she couldn't sleep. She climbed into my bed and I went back to sleep. She woke me up again at 6:15 to ask if it was OK for her to go outside and play. I answered with a resounding "you've got to be kidding me!" Finally at 7AM, Littlebit and Big Brother went outside and played and played and played. Inside to put all their clothes in the dryer and warm up for a bit, and we're headed back out in a few minutes to play some more. I'll post more later today, and I'll try to post some pictures too. It's still coming down hard right now. Gotta love the snow. I think school won't start today until later this afternoon afther the kids are too tired to play any more!