Our First Two Weeks of School!

We've finished two weeks of school already. The time flew by! Transitioning from an 'eclectic' approach to a mostly 'traditional-textbook' approach has proved to be challenging, but it's definitely getting easier already. Now that I've printed a bunch of materials (that I didn't know I needed to print) and tweaked the schedules, things are running much smoother. 

 

Over the past two weeks, the children have worked really hard! I'm loving BJU, and they are too! It's been worth all the time and energy I've poured into it. The boys are learning so much! Although I have no regrets, *because I always pray and ask GOD to lead our homeschool* I do wish I had used BJU sooner. If I could describe the academics in one word, it would be EXCELLENT! We're also enjoying Apologia's General Science course! The experiments have been terrific, and the notebook is absolutely gorgeous. I love it all!

 

Here are a few pictures from the last two weeks:

 

I made a special dinner for the first day of school. We enjoyed stuffed red peppers, broiled asparagus and a sweet summer salad!

 

My awesome husband has been reading to the children every night for several years. They started reading this book the first week of school. So far, they all love it!

 

I added "Sermon Notes" and "Sunday School" dividers to the children's Bible notebooks. I love how our children are learning so much at church.

 

We were blessed to care for this mourning dove for a couple of days. Thank you, Lord, for bringing "Nature Study" into our school schedule!

 

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 I love these "stars" in the solar system because it makes the homeschool room feel cozier.

 In BJU's Heritage Studies 5, we are studying cartography!

This map had to be shaped and cut a certain way in order to fit on this sphere to make a globe.

I enjoyed making this Place Value Pocket Chart out of card stock paper and paper fasteners. Thanks, BJU, for this manipulative! I love it so much I even made a holder just like it for all the number cards! I saw quickly that this is an effective teaching tool, and I think we'll get lots of use out of it this year.

In BJU's Science 5, we are studying minerals. We made Rock Candy! Although the crystals that form are not minerals, the conditions -heat and time- are similar to those of mineral formation.

Day 1 of day 7!

Salty Crystals! We decided to make salty crystals from Epsom salt as well as from Alum. Alum crystals are supposed to form faster than Epsom crystals. We'll see over the next 7-17 days!

 

The Pilgrim's Progress, Book 1 of 2 finished!

The rating it received= 5 STARS!

Learning how to measure mass and volume! This block of clay weighs 124 grams!

 

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In Apologia's General Science, we learned about "Density in Nature." Can you see the rock, grape, ice cube and cork in the different layers of liquids?

 

Apologia's General Science- Atoms in Motion!

Blue=cold water

Yellow=hot water

 

Apologia's General Science-

Chemical Reactions- BEFORE!

 

Chemical Reactions- DURING!

 

Chemical Reactions- AFTER!

 

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I was blessed with a new office on the main floor! It's very convenient and helpful!

 

THANK YOU, LORD, FOR ALL THE BLESSINGS! I LOVE BEING A HOMESCHOOL MOM!

BJU Press English: Grade 4 and 6 Review

After trying multiple writing curricula, I decided to try BJU Press English, and I'm so glad I did. It's the answer to my prayer, and I couldn't be more pleased.

We use the "DVD and Books" Distance Learning Kits.

My 4th and 6th graders have learned a tremendous amount of grammar and have quickly grasped and embraced the writing process thanks to Mrs. Overly's engaging, thorough and effective teaching. I love how the grammar lessons are directly applied in the writing lessons that follow them. This method clearly demonstrates why grammar is so important and how the two (grammar and writing) go together. I will never teach grammar and writing separately again!

Mrs. Overly is such a kind, godly woman. She's extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic. I am so impressed with her expertise. Also, unlike myself, since she is a teacher on DVD, she is always perfectly prepared and never moody! ;-)

I love the flexibility of DVD's because we can watch the lessons anywhere in the house on any t.v. or computer.

I think it's wonderful that the DVD teacher teaches directly to the homeschool student as opposed to teaching a classroom full of children with a video camera set up in the back of the room as some curriculum providers do it. The bjupress teacher is able to focus all of her instruction on the homeschool student, and no time is wasted.

We have really enjoyed the themes, game shows and the "virtual field trips' as we call them. This adds some fun to the mix.

The video lessons are 15 minutes in length, so it takes us approximately 30 -45 minutes to complete a lesson. In the 4th grade course, completing a lesson usually takes 30 minutes. In the 6th grade course, it usually takes a little longer, more like 30 - 45 minutes.

I feel certain that my children are receiving the best education possible. I would highly recommend the English DVD with Books Distance Learning Kit. It's definitely worth every penny...and then some!

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English 4 Student (2nd ed.) places an emphasis on traditional English grammar as well as practice with vital reference skills and step-by-step use of the Writing Process for eight different types of writing assignments, such as personal narrative, tall tale, persuasive essay, and more. The student worktext provides guided practice, independent practice, chapter reviews, and cumulative reviews. Located at the back of the worktext, the Writing Handbook contains a thesaurus and writing models, and the Grammar Handbook contains a list of abbreviations, prepositions, homophones, and diagramming models.

English 6 emphasizes traditional grammar as well as practice with essential reference skills. The elementary English curriculum provides a step-by-step introduction to the Writing Process for eight different types of writing assignments, such as personal narratives, newspaper editorials, historical fiction, and limericks. The student worktext provides guided practice, independent practice, chapter reviews, and cumulative reviews to reinforce key grammar concepts. Located at the back of the worktext, the Writing Handbook contains a thesaurus and writing models, and the Grammar Handbook contains a list of abbreviations, prepositions, homophones, and sentence diagramming models.

For more information about homeschool products from BJU Press, Check out the BJU Press website.

Biology: Plant and Animal Cell Models!

The children and I thoroughly enjoyed making these edible cell models for biology class! Basically, we used cookie dough to make the cookie cakes and then decorated them with icing and candies such as Twizzlers, Skittles, and Nerds, etc. Taking the time to do this really reinforced learning the parts of the cells. It was a fun learning experience.

Cookie Cake Plant Cell

Cookie Cake Animal Cell
 

The two cookie cakes together! Yummy! Yummy!

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All of my students were instructed to make a cell model, so I'll share a few of the extraordinary ones...

One of my students made this model on the inside of a file folder, so it was kind of like a lapbook. She used felt, cloth, buttons and puffy glitter glue. How creative is this?

And check this one out! This student sewed hers together! It's beautiful!

Another student made his cell model out of duct tape! How cool is that!?

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We studied, Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology, by Jeannie Fulbright during our 2011 - 2012 school year. We had an absolutely fantastic year of science!

At the end of Lesson 1, we completed the Edible Cell Project as a class. It was a big hit! I used round plastic containers with lids, so the children could take their jello cells home and show them to their parents before they ate them.

"The Boy of Mount Rhigi" Dramatic Audio by Lamplighter Theatre

We listened to, The Boy of Mount Rhigi by Lamplighter Theatre, and we absolutely loved it and were hanging on every word. It's a great story for everyone, but especially boys as the two main characters are boys. 

Here is a summary from the Lamplighter website:

"Clapham has an unusual father - a father who forces him to steal. He also has an uncommon friend named Harry, whose friendship meets the ultimate test when Clapham is forced to steal from Harry's family. Now Clapham must confront his father - and his own sin - and come face to face with an amazing past he never knew existed. You'll experience never-ending drama in this story of heartbreaking betrayal, a friend's loyalty, and God's ultimate redemption in The Boy of Mount Rhigi."

I'd say this is for 10 years old and up because it's a drama that deals with some serious issues such as alcohol abuse, stealing, etc.

It's approximately 2 hours long.

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

The Phantom Tollbooth took us on an extraordinary adventure!

Here are a couple of quotes from Wikipedia:
"...It tells the story of a bored young boy named Milo who unexpectedly receives a magic tollbooth one afternoon and, having nothing better to do, decides to drive through it in his toy car. The tollbooth transports him to a land called the Kingdom of Wisdom. There he acquires two faithful companions, has many adventures, and goes on a quest to rescue the princesses of the kingdom--Princess Rhyme and Princess Reason--from the castle of air. The text is full of puns, and many events, such as Milo's jump to the Island of Conclusions, exemplify literal meanings of English language idioms."

"Critics have acknowledged that the book is advanced for most children, who would not understand all the wordplay or the framing metaphor of the achievement of wisdom."

I can definitely recommend this book! Some homeschoolers have warned against this book because of it's magic and because one of the characters is a witch. The "magic" to me is more like a child's wild imagination, and the "witch" is not actually a witch at all. She is simply a woman in charge of "which" words to choose from, so she is called "Which." We listened to it on audio as we flipped the pages, so we had all the whimsical illustrations from the print book plus all the sound effects of an audio book engaging us!

Geography: Map Skills

In the summer of 2012, while planning our upcoming school year, I decided it was time to change the direction of our geography studies and switch gears! Over the years, we've completed some fantastic geography unit studies as well as studied various places based on our history studies, but we had never focused solely on basic map skills. While at The School Box store, I found a book titled Daily Geography Practice and decided to give it a try. I'm so glad I did, because we are learning more geography than ever and having a terrific time doing it!

Even though this is a workbook, it's a hands-on approach to learning! The way the book is laid out, the teacher teaches the lesson on Monday with the lesson book in hand and usually a globe and/or a map, and the children answer 2 questions every day of the week for a total of 10 answered questions. Every Friday there is a "Challenge." All of the questions and challenges require the children to refer back to the map. At the end of each week, the children have learned A LOT about the particular mapping skill, learned several new vocabulary words, answered two pages of questions, completed a challenge and produced a colorful map in the process. Here are a few samples of our work:

This has been a favorite for all of us this homeschool year! We are always eager to do Geography!

The contents for the Grade 5 book include:

Week 1 Parts of a Map

Week 2 Globe Lines

Week 3 The Four Hemishpheres

Week 4 A Map Grid

Week 5 Lines of Latitude and Longitude

Week 6 Map Coordinates

Week 7 A Robinson Projection Map

Week 8 A Mercator Projection Map

Week 9 Picturing North America

Week 10 Picturing the World

Week 11 A Road Map: Montana

Week 12 The Saint lawrence Seaway

Week 13 A Physical Map: Washington

Week 14 Mountains and Desserts of the United States

Week 15 Waterways of the United States

Week 16 A Physical Map: Canada

Week 17 A Physical Map: Mexico

Week 18 A Physical Map: South America

Week 19 Regions of the United States

Week 20 Regions of Canada

Week 21 The Region of Central America

Week 22 Regions of the United Kingdom

Week 23 A National Symbol: Washington, D.C.

Week 24 A Cultural Landmark: Yellowstone National Park

Week 25 Climate Zones of the United States

Week 26 The Arctic Tundra

Week 27 Twenty Largest Cities in the United States

Weel 28 A Cultural  Map: National Football League

Week 29 A Product Map: Nebraska

Week 30 Boroughs of New York City

Week 31 Time Zones of the United States

Week 32 Sharing the Colorado River

Week 33 A Tourist Map: Florida

Week 34 The Top Oil-Producing States

Week 35 A History ap: The United States in 1861

Week 36 A City Plan

The standard book is $29.99. Evan-Moor has several options (EBooks, Student Editions for $7.99, etc.) on their website, so you can figure out what works best for you. 

Here is a link to get you started:

Daily Geography Practice, Grade 5

STATIONS!

Several years ago, a friend told me about how she set up "stations" around her house for her child to go through. These stations are educational places that provide opportunities for learning. I'm not exactly sure how she set up her stations, but the idea sounded grand, so I ran with it!

I wanted to give life to the resources in the house that were being neglected and that I knew the children would enjoy spending time with. I found a bunch of hands-on resources, set each thing up in it's own place and gave it a number. I have always made twenty stations, but you can make as many or as few as you want. Twenty stations gave me enough time to get some things done around the house. Since the children could do most of these activities independently, this was a time for me to unload the dishwasher, fold a basket of clothes, etc. I was close by if they needed me, but still able to be productive around the house.

I then made a page of directions for each child. They had to read the directions for each station and check off each station as soon as they completed it. One child carried the directions with him from station to station while the other left the directions in one spot and came back to it in between stations. Also, one child would go in order from 1 - 20 while the other hopped around to wherever he wanted to go next. The point is to give them a fun and extraordinary learning experience, so I was flexible and let each child do it the way they wanted to. My children LOVED stations, and I wish I would have done it more often.

I've done this several times, and some of the stations are the same but not all of them. I changed it up as the children grew older and as our interests and studies changed. It's been since 2010 since we've done stations, but after writing this post I feel inspired to see what I can come up with if anything. My children are older now, so we have little time for these fun, little extras. Here are some pictures from one of our days doing STATIONS!