Typical February week...

The older kids are reading the book "Red Badge of Courage".  You can download it free here on Amazon.com.  We are studying the Civil War for the Spring and its a great book to start with.

I know I am procrastinating on a project of reorganization today but I promise this will only take a minute....or ten!  I am a distraction waiting to happen and then I wonder where my son gets it from? Hmmm!


I have learned through the week that my children do not know how to write.  A simple essay is too hard for them.  I say, make sure you type your cover sheet and they looked at me with a bewildered look.  I know I was writing simple essays in elementary school...I know I was!  I do have a good vocabulary to add to the amount of pages I could write as well!  Facebook and blogging doesn't count.  It would be unfair for me to talk about this subject while you are looking at my excessive usage of ellipsis...it happens! I like them and I am not changing.  But in the real world (I am already there so I don't have to impress), the kids need to know how to write!  Was I thinking too high when I expected them to do an essay each week on a variety of topics...I mean, I have the schedule written out until May 4th!  We can't change this now!  I am thinking we need to take 2 weeks on our first topic.  For whatever reason they thought that typing 3 pages for the body of the essay was the same as handwriting three pages.  Should I let them think that and then go ahead and show them Microsoft Word?  And watch their expression crush to their stomachs as they see that will probably get them "maybe" 1 page.  I did show them how to make a thesis statement.  Jacob was up and down the stairs about 7 times before he got it right.  A thesis statement is not a sentence that regurgitates facts I could have looked up in the encyclopedia.  I drop them off at the library to get references and do some reading and they had no idea where an encyclopedia was located!  They sat on their phones looking stuff up on the internet.  And NO!!! Wikipedia is not counted as a reference.  I remember a college professor once told us that in order for the website to be with credible information it better not have any ads on it!  The essay is 5 pages long.  This includes a cover sheet, a thesis statement with at least 3 major points in the body of the essay, a conclusion and then a reference sheet.  Lots of learning ahead...

Jesse and Elizabeth have been reading a lot lately.  We are doing baby steps leading up to book reports.  I found a great reference on pinterest this afternoon and had to take a closer look.  I was only going to use this with Jesse but I think Elizabeth can handle the information with some help.  Sandwich Reading Comp
Print it and a few copies...its free!

I am hoping this sheet will work better than our standard form.  I bet I could trace these on colored construction paper to make it really look like a burger.  I have also seen the same types of forms but with ice cream cones and different scoop layers.  Get creative! It's worth it to see your child's lightbulb turn on!
We have printed and laminated several sheets for Valentine's day bingo.  The kids love it and even the older kids will play if candy is involved as prizes.  You can buy some hershey kisses for rewards and some pink/red M&Ms for bingo covers.  Play regular bingo and then play card blackout.


These are very colorful and we have enjoyed it numerous times.  We enjoy Bingo...all kinds.  We did some math bingo one day this week with Jesse.  Adding the rows, columns and 4 corners.  You can do greater than, less than exercises too.  We have chapter questions that go along with the reading.  Vocabulary words and a study guide too.  I wonder if there is an audio book too? Hmmm...that would be good for the younger two kids.  I will have to check that out.  I think this sums up the type of week we have experienced.  Hoping to get lesson plans started tonight and tomorrow.  Superbowl is tomorrow and that means a day of family, cooking and football.

Rosetta Stone Giveaway - French 1

As it so happens, Jacob said he wanted to learn French for his high school credits.  We just went over his 4 year high school plan later this week.  I told him that would be a  good choice as that was the language I learned in high school as well...at least there will be some familiarity.  Fluent....um, no!  I can read it and figure things out though! That does count, right?  Same goes for Spanish.  The Rosetta Stone would be a great addition to our homeschool for many years.  That is if all 4 kids decide that is what they want to learn!

Check out Katie's giveaway here:  http://www.katieslanguagecafe.blogspot.com/2012/01/rosetta-stone-giveaway.html

And you can also give her a shout out at her homeschool blog:  http://brightonparkblog.blogspot.com/

How did your day go?

Ours was semi-productive I suppose.  Despite a dragging morning, a lost science book and a couple of hours at the dr. office...we did get Jacob's hair cut today!   My cable box keeps switching on and off.  Hopefully this will correct itself overnight and its a good thing I am tired and don't care to watch tv anyhow.  Somehow over the holidays we have lost our science book.  I have the TE but I need the science book for Emily's assignments!
While waiting on blood sugars to be announced I did a quick research on some new pumps that are coming out in 2012.  http://www.diabetesnet.com/technology/insulin-pumps  I found the t:slim and the jewel pumps to be of interest to me.  I think I am looking forward to a good change besides the same 3-5 buttons that I have been pushing since 1999.  I am ready for new technology to keep my interest and the new flair with colors!  And I thought my inset were great!


                             

A year from now...

A year from now...
     I promise to still be here
A year from now...
     Some of the same challenges will still be here
A year from now...
     I hope that better organization will still be here
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Its not January 1st or the night before when everyone is cramming to figure out what resolutions to make at the stroke of midnight.  I found those words to be a far stretch of what was actually reachable.  I would like to start slow and keep mindful of everything I do.  Pinterest has been a huge inspiration this year...sometimes I wonder how we lived without such blatant creativeness.

Looking for a little Valentine's Day activity?  How about teaching this Bible verse to your children.  I believe it was the first one I EVER learned as a child!

I need to hop on the blog wagon again...

But it has been so incredibly busy!  Maybe next week! Ok?

Here is a great giveaway though for me to not share.  A kindle! Everyone wants one...including me!

Check out Freely Educate for your chance to win one too !   http://FreelyEducate.com

Chapter 1 Its your kid not a Gerbil

I found this book in the airport in Nashville and found it very thought provoking.  

1.  "The pressure to grow up fast, to achieve early is very great in middle-class America.  There is no room today for the "late bloomer."  Children have to achieve success early or they are regarded as losers."  This originally came from the book "The hurried Child" by David Elkind.  I know I will be putting this book on my wishlist.  This sounds interesting to me as my daughter started developing as early as the 2nd grade.  I just wasn't sure why.  She started shaving her legs by the 3rd grade.  I asked our pediatrician about this and he said that the pediatricians are finding that children are developing about 6 months before their mother's did.  Well, this would be a problem with me.  I was in the the 5th-7th grade.  This is quite the difference from 6 months.  Kids today are anxious about the society and how they are looked upon as parents.  Are parents looking for the blue ribbon to say you are The Best Parents?  I know of a lot adults that group up poor without tennis lessons and went on to be productive citizens contributing to society.  For goodness sakes they are holding a spot for their 2 month old in the most prestigious preschools in their area.  A school the child won't attend for another 3-4 years!  It was called Nursery University.  Check it out, I watched it on Netflix.

2. "Check out the magazine articles on squeezing the most out of every second, including how to lose weight faster, find the most healthy fast food, and make friends faster.  They're all aimed at our "instant" world." another quote from the first chapter of "Its Your Kid, Not a Gerbil".  

I remember when Oprah came out with her magazine.  I bought it with enthrusiasm just as other women around did.  I was very unimpressed with the media.  The magazine was filled to brim with ads.  Little content with a big price.  Yes, we live in an instant world.  I call it the "microwave age"  we want things done and appear now...not later.  So what are they doing?  Putting the parents on the gerbil wheel while the kids are at school?  Best Yoga place, best food for us to buy....really?  I am sure our grandparents when they were young only went to 1 store for all of their needs.  Everything else was made at home.

3. "At ToysRUs online, you can even buy PDAs for kids to schedule homework between soccer practice and Cub Scouts."  Really, people?  I mean we did participate in scouts when the kids were younger but I don't remember it taking up that much of our time.  About an hour a week I think?  

Just a closer walk with thee...

This has been my song for today.  I can't help what song gets in my head.  But this song brought me closer to more than just God.

You see...as I grew up with my grandparents I did things with them and we were very much scheduled.  Grandma had her hair done the same time each week.  They were in Walmart by a certain time and Food World.  They packed all of this in before 11am as they were normally sitting outside the Quincy's restaurant just before they opened.

Skip a few years and now they are living in Texas.  The schedule is very different and I haven't caught on to it just yet.  Today is Tuesday and I thought today they ate at the Cotton Patch but I found out that today they are eating at the Golden Corral.  But we

 did make a stop at Walmart just before eating.  I walked side by side next to my grandmother who is probably 2 feet shorter than I am.  She is pushing the grocery cart and I don't have a hard time keeping with her.  But as I was walking with her this song popped in my head.  Grandma told me they have a rule with each other (with grandpa) that they have to leave walmart by 10:40am in order to stop and get gas before heading to lunch.  On time they were. We get to Golden Corral and I thought being the good granddaughter that I try to be that I would help grandma get her meal choosings for her plate.  Oh no.  They know my grandparents so well that she has a waitress who takes her by the arm and guides her through the buffet to see what she would like to eat.  Then she brings her back to the table and leaves toget the normal stuff like butter and such for her.  It seems that my grandparents walk close to a lot of people who have a willing heart to help them out.  They still walk close to Jesus and I have always known that of them.   But we also need other to walk close to us as we enter our new days and on the journey that we make the choices to be a part of.

JUST A CLOSER WALK WITH THEE

Just a closer walk with Thee,Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,Daily walking close to Thee,Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

I am weak, but Thou art strong;Jesus, keep me from all wrong;I’ll be satisfied as longAs I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

Through this world of toil and snares,If I falter, Lord, who cares?Who with me my burden shares?None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.

When my feeble life is o’er,Time for me will be no more;Guide me gently, safely o’er

To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.

I let the big one go..

So this week I am spending some quiet time in Texas without any children.  Judge took the week off so I could fly to Texas and spend some precious time with my grandparents, aunt & uncle...cousins too!  Its been a stress free week so far.  No outside stress just the constant battle I have within my self and my diabetes.

Last night my uncle and I went out to the fishing pier to catch "the big one".  He is a man of little words so when he talks you really do want to listen.  He instructed me on how to cast and lures and stuff like that.  Now I have been fishing all my life but this was not something I wanted to boast about to him.  I let him teach me.  My own comments were usually "Mmmm Hmmm".  He knows this pond and knows how the fish like to eat and which lures work at the certain time of day.  This is his fishing hole.  Not mine.

But I caught the "big one" that will last in conversation for awhile for me.  But in reality I caught 3 sunfish and 2 large mouth bass.  They were around 2-3 pounds.  He even had me grab ahold of the large mouth to put it back in the water...eww I said, It will bite me!!! But I did it!

Which brings me to think.  God wants us to catch a big one too.  It doesn't matter how big or small it is.  But to you it is the Big one!  God wants us to wait patiently for his direction.  Whether you acknowledge him with a "MmmmHmmm" because you are trying to just stay quiet or with a "Yes, Lord".

This week I will be blogging on the book of "Its Your Kid, not a gerbil by Dr. Kevin Leman while I am on vacation.

Random Acts of Kindness Thursday Study

I found out that there is a Random Acts of Kindness week but its in November.  Today is going to be our RAK day for teaching purposes.

We are starting with two verses from the Bible:
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” (1 Corinthians 13:4)
“He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.” (Proverbs 19:17)


We are using these slogans:
•"Kindness can change the world." 

•"Kindness begins like a ripple of water"...  

                          

•"Kindness makes your heart glow!"

•"The kindness in people is reflected back to them."

•"I believe in the magic of kindness."

•"Practice random kindness."

http://www.kidactivities.net/category/Random-Acts-of-Kindness.aspx

Kids are choosing which slogan they want to do and are going to be making a mini sized poster (blank printer paper).

I wrote the 6 slogans above to give them a choice on which one they wanted to do.

Before the poster they are writing on lined paper 10 ways to be kind for them to start brainstorming.

What triggered this idea (well, God of course) was two things as I walked in the house from being at Walgreens.  1.  Early this morning Jesse was a genius!!!  Elizabeth doesn't spell very well (neither does he) but this was something he could do for his sister.  He got on the desktop computer and made a folder on the main page with her name on it and inside of the folder were websites that she goes to a lot.  This saves everyone in the house time to have to spell out the whole website for her so now she can just click and go!  2.  Again, I came home to Jacob making ramen for Elizabeth.  Just because he wanted to.  Not sure if she asked him or not but this isn't a normal thing for him to just go and do.

I want the children to grow up and do things for themselves and others without having to be told to do it.  Take some initiative.  The feelings you have in your heart are way more powerful than someone praising you for doing something.  Not all the time will you get praised therefore you should be able to praise yourself with a pat on the back.

I will add pictures of their posters when they are finished.

Education Reform

Was pointed in the direction of a video on YouTube tonight that makes me raise and eyebrow on some levels and also confirms some of my beliefs about American education.  One thing that I really believe is that teachers in the schools are SO deprived of a decent income for what they have to go through during the school day.  Its their compassion that keeps them coming back to the school day after day.  Teachers have to really love what they are doing and feel that they are making a difference.  Even if you don't agree with everything that is said in the video you have to admit that the drawings are pretty awesome! LOL!

Not every child fits in the pretty box with a bow.  Many people have heard me say this in reference to our oldest child.  Yes I know he is 12 but he doesn't have to learn the same thing as other 12 year olds that are in their 7th month before turning 13.  Right?

Underwater Sight Seeing

Glancing through my twitter feed I found a cool link from Craig Froman about an underwater museum.
Only visible by snorkeling, scuba diving or through a glass bottom boat.  It is located in Cancun.

Kind of reminded me of a trip Judge and I took many years ago to Sweetwater, TN.  We were passing through the area and saw a sign for The Lost Sea.

We are still honey-mooning...

As we continue studying the moon phases we read the verse Psalms 8:3  

When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—

                      the moon and the stars you set in place—

The kids and I continued on through Genesis 3:20 with their bible lesson and did a crossword puzzle.

I found a website called Teacher Vision today.  But they only allow you to see 5 things before you have to buy a subscription to the website.

I used those free views pretty quickly.  I found that our project we started yesterday was too hard for Elizabeth to keep up.  Went to that website and printed out a couple of moon printables for her.  That way she is still studying what we are just on her level.  She has been cutting and using glue to fill in sentences with crescent words and a page on moon phases and matching.

The older kids are learning about the phases of the moon.  Observing and naming the current phase of the moon, the elongation and how it can be estimated with the sun's rays.  Within today's lesson is some basic geometry with right angles and 45 degree angles. Worksheet

Prayer sticks for today were to pray for my cousin's daughter Addison, my brother in law Bill,  Jacob's friend Dominique and my sister's daughter Brooklyn.