Bringing you up to Speed

Okay, when will I ever learn that you can't skip days on a blog. Well, this is what we've been up to. We studied how apple growers use bees to pollinate their trees and that every single blossom has to be pollinated to turn into an apple. We also learned how an apple tree changes with the seasons. I let Lillie get on the printshop program and draw what an apple tree looks like during all four seasons.



I printed up a board game with bees as the playing pieces to do a review of what we had learned. Lillie's questions had to do with our apple unit and Jacks cards consisted of his letters, numbers, colors and shapes. We also did some apple prints, read the story "The Little Red House with No Doors and a Star Inside" and examined the inside of an apple.


I was surprised just how much we have learned the last two weeks of our apple unit. It really is true that kids are like sponges. They soak up whatever they are around. Sobering thought, isn't it?

Lillie Reads!

When Lillie first learned her letter sounds,I set a goal of her reading something, anything, by herself before she turned 4. Well, Saturday, two days before her 4th birthday, she upped and did it! I made a huge deal of it, because, well, for me, it was. She was so proud of herself. I printed her an award and we exchanged fist-bumps of congratulations.

Another Reason Why I Am Homeschooling...

Here is yet another reason why we need to fight tooth and nail to keep our right to educate our children at home.
Many of us remember the horror we saw as terrorists took over a school full of children in Beslan. My mom called my attention to a talk program by Glenn Beck called "The Perfect Day" in which he discusses the reality of terrorists taking over and attacking schools in our country. Check out this blog post that has alot of good information. Here is the link for the article from the Homeland Security National Terror Alert website, and here is the video clip from the training camps in Afghanistan. This is scary stuff, parents. There is a real threat to our country's children here. I couldn't help but imagine what I would feel if that the adults in this film posing as children were really children faced with such horror. We live in a sick world, people. Television and the media have made us numb to the real danger that lies lurking in our own country. We in America are not immune, though we've had it so good for so long that we believe we are. Please read and listen and do some research of your own. Then shout it from the rooftops,give your kids a big hug and kiss and be thankful, that if you homeschool, that this is one less thing to worry about.

Shoot!

Took yesterday off. My sinuses were still giving me grief. We're not on speaking terms right now. But, I felt good today, so we learned about William Tell . He was from Switzerland and started a revolution that eventually freed Switzerland from Austrian control. He's also the dude that shot an apple off his son's head. I read the kids a series of stories by H.E. Marshall that I got off the Baldwin Project online (great resource chalked full of stories). Then it was on to YOU TUBE to watch a symphony perform Rossini's "William Tell Overture" , you know, the Lone Ranger theme song???? Click this link to listen and watch: Part One and Part Two. By the way, here is my all time favorite version of "William Tell's Overture", check it out moms, I think you can relate.
Lillie worked on another map pinpointing key locations mentioned in our story.
And when I asked Jackson what town William Tell shot the apple off his son's head at, he answered,"HotDog, Swissland" (for those of you who can't speak Jackson, that's Altdorf, Switzerland.) Ain't he a dandy?
Next, I let the kids get Jody's bow out and try their hand at archery. It's alright mom, you can put the phone down, I'm just joking!Just seeing if you were paying attention. Seriously, I let the kids design their own faces for the next activity using our printshop program. Here they are...

We took the plates, some apples, and some small bean bags outside, where I let the kids "shoot" apples off the top of the paper plate heads. I'm not sure what they learned from this, it was just something fun to do.






Jackson didn't care to participate, but Lillie was so brutal and inaccurate at times, that William Tell's son better praise the Lord that he had William Tell for a daddy and not Lillie.
When they grew bored, they ate the apples. We also hung out with the usual suspects, some copywork, reading games, math worksheets. We covered all the bases and had a blast doing so! Thus is the way I've found it to be 95% of the time when you homeschool.

What Was I Thinking?

I wasn't.
Can You Say Dumb Move? If you can don't bother, I can't hear anymore, anyway.

Gettin' Excited Bout' Cider !

Having finished Johnny Appleseed last week(our very first unit study ever) we moved onto apple cider today. We read "Apple Cider Making Days" by Ann Purnell. It showed step by step how cider is made in storybook form. I scanned and printed out the pictures from the book that showed the steps and we will sit down and put them in order. Then, we tasted some apple cider. The kids weren't quite sure about drinking it, what with all that stuff floating around at the bottom of the jug. But finally, they drank it and liked it.
We learned that it takes a third of a bushel to make one gallon of cider and that no two presses of cider will taste exactly alike. Also, that many cider makers mix different varieties of apples and most keep their recipes a secret and that the only difference between apple cider and apple juice is the pulp. When they make apple juice, all the pulp is drained out, that's what gives cider the dark brown color and the apple juice it's golden clear color. Who knew cider could be so interesting?

Next, I found a wonderful little video on YOU TUBE about cider making. Click the link and Check it out.
We also did our regular reading, writing , and arithmetic. Lillie was quizzed on her sight words and we used our word strips for phonics practice.


I made Lillie a worksheet that lets her practice not just writing, but knocks out reading, memory verse, and beginning sound recognition as well. I just took her memory verse and put pictures under the blocks that began with the letter that filled in the blank. Here's a pic.

I called it quits after all that because my sinuses are giving me grief and I needed a nap... bad.

A Thankless Job

"Mommy, I'm huuuuuunnnnngrreeeeeee!" the two year old whines for the sixth time in five minutes. "I'm workin' on it." mom says for the sixth time in five minutes. "Mommeeeeee! I need a drink!" the 3 year old demands. "Is please not in your vocabulary?" mom asks, trying to remain gentle, yet stern. "I'm thirsty, now please!" Apparently patience isn't in your vocabulary either, mom thinks to herself, feeling her goodwill slowly slipping away. "Hon, what's for lunch?" the husband chimes in. "Whatever you want to fix," wife snaps. Yep, goodwill is out the window, running and shrieking down the driveway hand in hand with the Proverbs 31 woman. "This is such a thankless job sometimes," you mutter. Ever been there ladies? I have. In fact, I'm thinking of buying a condo and moving there permanently. The above scenario occured in my house (gasp) on Saturday.
Sunday morning I was up with Chloe at 4:30 am. I , oddly enough, was wide awake and couldn't go back to sleep, which is not normal for me. So, I did something that I don't do enough of to my shame... I read (really read) my bible. In typical God fashion, he called to my remembrance the above mentioned occurance and specifically to the words I muttered. "This is such a thankless job sometimes." Now, why would he do that? Well, the old wheels got to crankin' (thanks to a big mug of French Roast coffee)and I wondered, "Does God feel that way sometimes?" I mean, it seems like all I do all day is clean up messes, and no one says thank-you, they just make more messes. You know, our relationship with the Lord is like that, except he's the one cleaning up the messes we make when we take the reigns of our own life as if to say,"Lord, I got this one. Why don't you take a break." Inevitably , when we rely on ourselves and not God, we make messes. Then we're praying "Lord, you have to fix this." Most of the time he does and yet, we don't thank him , we don't live a thankful life. We just turn right around and make another mess. I guess the Lord has a thankless job too, sometimes.
In Luke 17:11-19, Jesus met 10 men who were lepers. He healed them all but only one came back to thank him. Here were 10 men who were outcasts, their lives were bleak and dismal, hopeless. And Jesus changed that, yet only one came back. Jesus rescued me out of "the miry clay and set my feet on a rock". May I always be like the one leper who gave glory to God for the change made in his life.