Homeschool Wrap Up Week 25

The crazy Arkansas weather caused some changes to our week this week too.  Who would've thought we would actually get snow again, a day after we had thunderstorms?  Hopefully spring will be here soon!

Week 25 In Our Homeschool

Bible: This week we read through the first 4 chapters of Proverbs.  We also started reading Missionary Stories with the Millers.

History: In Mystery of History Vol III we completed Lessons 64-66 on The Jews of the Renaissance and Reformation, Rembrandt, and Thomas Hooker Founds Connecticut.  We also did the corresponding memory cards and timeline figures.

Science: We started the last chapter of Exploring Creation Through Chemistry and Physics on Simple Machines.  We also watched the elementary and middle and high school level videos on simple machines from Visual Learning Systems and completed some worksheets to go along with the videos.

Grammar/Writing/Literature: Nick and Alex finished Lesson 22 of Fix it! Grammar The Nose Tree.  They completed Lesson 16 of Medieval Writing.  Anthony is still reading through Charlotte's Web.  His grammar lessons have been on using commas.  Christian read Curious George Flies a Kite.  and worked on using punctuation for grammar.

Spelling/Reading: Anthony and Christian finished Lesson 10 of AAR Level 2.  I did not get to spelling with Alex this week since we spent so much time working on his writing assignment.  He also started working on a new review called Star Toaster which is reading, vocabulary, language arts and more in a game format.

Math: Nick finished Lesson 25 of Pre-Algebra.  Alex finished Lesson 22 of Delta.  Christian and Anthony finished Lesson 23 of Beta and Gamma.

My Father's World Creation From A to Z

Lily started working on letter "H" for horse.  We found a few picture books on horses the other day at the library, so we read through those and learned lots of interesting information about horses.  She did a picture card page, sound discrimination page, and handwriting page.  We compared cars to horses.  Our Bible lesson is based on the phrase, "I obey right away."  She made and painted a clay horse.  There actually were a few other worksheets I had planned on her doing this week but she had so much fun with the clay she decided to make a dog too and I decided the worksheets could wait :)

One of the other "h" words was hand.  Lily came up with this craft on her own.  It's a hand with a ring she could slide her hand into.  Later she added a bracelet too.

Other Activities This Week:

Monday archery and soccer were cancelled because of rain. We did have the 4 H Bread and Cookie Contest and a Homeschool Meeting.  Most of Monday was spent cooking and I wasn't disappointed that it was raining. We dropped off our entries to the contest went to the homeschool meeting for a little while (I took them a snack and the iPad and Kindle so they could use those things quietly) and then we went back for the awards.

Tuesday gymnastics was cancelled because the instructor's baby was sick.

Wednesday we had gymnastics.

It was also Emmie's 4th Birthday!

We had some really strange weather on Wednesday and went from a warm rain to a cold rain to thunderstorms to freezing rain, sleet, hail, and snow.

Thursday morning we woke up to this.

So archery and soccer were cancelled again.  And school was delayed a bit to play in the snow and have some cocoa.

Friday we did some serious cleaning.  But as I said to a good friend, why is it no matter how much you clean it doesn't seem like you are making any progress?  Chelsea had to go to the college to take care of a few things so she grabbed the few groceries I needed while she was there.

Saturday Nick and Alex had soccer practice. Christian hasn't had a practice yet and the forecast is looking rainy this week too.

I hope you had a great week in your homeschool!

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Schoolhouse Crew Review: Egglo Entertainment

Egglo Entertainment has produced resources to put the focus back on Jesus during the Easter season and all through the year.  These products remind children that Jesus is the light of the world and teach them His truths.  For review purposes we received:

Glow in the Dark Egglo Eggs

The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure Book

Egglo Treasures Scripture Scrolls

Egglo Bible Verse Stickers

The Egglo Glow in the Dark Egg Hunt Event Curriculum

The Egglo Glow in the Dark Eggs come in boxes of 12 with 4 different colors in each box: blue, green, yellow, and pink.  The eggs need to be charged ahead of time by putting in the sunlight for 30 minutes or 45 minutes under a fluourescent/blacklight or 60 W incandescent light.  Eggs can be filled with candy, stickers, scripture scrolls or other goodies for a glow in the dark egg hunt.  They also could be used for scavenger hunts or in crafts.

The Egglo Bible Verse stickers come in packs of 12.  They can be used to put into the eggs, or to decorate the eggs.  Each sticker contains a verse based on 1 Corinthians 15: 3-4, Deuteronomy 6:5, Proverbs 3: 5-6, Matthew 5:16 and 28:20, John 1:4, 1:5, 3:16, 8:12, and 12:46.
The Egglo Glow in the Dark Hunt Event Curriculum is a 60 page, full color, downloadable guide containing: instructions, snack, decoration, and activity ideas, discussion cards, activity pages, invitations, question and answer pages, game suggestions, Easter Egg Cutouts, and ideas to help you plan an event to suit your needs. 

The Egglo Treasure Scripture Scrolls come in packs of 12.  Each scroll has a verse based on 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Deuteronomy 6:5, Proverbs 3:5-6, Matthew 5:16 and 28:20, John 1:4, 1:5, 3:16, 8:12, and 12:46.  The scrolls fit perfectly inside the Egglo Glow in the Dark Eggs.

The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure Book is a 40 page, illustrated, full color, paperback book.  In the story, Hardy, Anastasia, Pascal, and their dog Zeke go on an amazing adventure when they find a glowing egg in their attic.  They are transported all around the world finding clues in each egg, learning how to work together, and being led to the greatest treasure of all.
Last year when we reviewed Egglo Entertainment, we did a Valentine's Egg Hunt, but the weather was awful and we had to do it indoors.  This year, the children really, really wanted to do an outdoors egg hunt.  So, I put the eggs in the sunlight during the day on Valentine's Day.  At dusk, I filled the eggs with M&M's, heart candy, and the scripture scrolls and stickers.  We used some of our eggs from last year too so that each child could find 3 eggs.  

I went out and hid the eggs and just before full dark they went out to find them.

My camera did not easily capture the glow of the eggs on camera

The children had a great time with their Valentine Egg Hunt.  We think the glow in the dark eggs are really cool, and using those along with the other products will put the focus of Easter back and Jesus and also can show children Jesus's love all through the year.  The eggs are strong and durable, and they glow.  How can that get any better? The story book is a great, interesting story that will keep your children wanting to read and has a great message attached to it.  It is a little lengthy, but it didn't have any problem keeping the attention of my children.  The guide has a lot of great suggestions and ideas to create more than just an Easter Egg Hunt for your group but to instead create a Christ-centered event that uses Easter Eggs.  You will find everything you need within the guide.  I am planning on using some of the question/answers for my Sunday School class for Easter and the snack ideas as well.
We have greatly enjoyed using these products from Egglo Entertainment.
To see what my Crew Mates had to say, click on the banner below.

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Animal School

 
I found this parable a few years ago and it's worth sharing, not just for those who have never read it, but to remind myself as well.  The meaning applies to more than just the public school system, it can apply to homeschoolers too especially when we forget that not all children learn the same way and we are not flexible in how we teach them.


Animal School

Once upon a time the animals had a school. They had 4 subjects-running, climbing, flying, and swimming-and all of the animals took all 4.

The duck was good at swimming, better than the teacher, in fact. He made passing grades in running and flying, but he was almost hopeless in climbing. So they made him drop swimming to practice more climbing. Soon he was only average in swimming, but average is OK and nobody worried much about it-except the duck.

The eagle was considered a troublemaker. In his climbing class he beat everybody to the top of the tree, but he had his own way of getting there, which was against the rules. He always had to stay after school and write "cheating is wrong" five hundred times. This kept him from soaring which he loved, but schoolwork comes first.

The bear flunked because he was lazy, especially in winter. His best time was summer, but school wasn't open then.

The penguin never went to school because he couldn't leave home, and they wouldn't start a school where he lived.

The zebra played hooky a lot. The ponies made fun of his stripes, and this made him very sad.

The kangaroo started out at the top of the running class, but got discouraged trying to run on all fours like the other kids.

The fish quit school because he was bored. To him all four subjects were the same, but nobody understood that. They had never been a fish.

The squirrel got A's in climbing, but his flying teacher made him start from the ground up instead of the treetop down. His legs got so sore that he began getting C's and D's in running.

The bee was the biggest problem of all, so the teacher sent him to Dr. Owl for testing. He said the bees wings wee too small for flying and they were in the wrong place. But the bee never saw Dr. Owl's report, so he just went ahead and flew anyway.

This original parable was written in the 1940's by George H. Reavis who was an assistant Superintendent of Schools. Variations of the parable have surfaced, but the message has stayed the same.

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4 H Bread and Cookie Contest

The 4 H Bread and Cookie Contest was supposed to be last week, but it was postponed due to weather.  I allow my children to enter up to two items provided that they don't choose recipes that have a lot of unusual expensive ingredients.  Cloverbuds (5-8 year olds) are allowed to used mixes (thank goodness!) but children 9 and older have to make their recipes from scratch.  There is one category that allows for a mix as one one of the ingredients.  There are several different categories such as: drop cookies, shaped cookies, bar cookies, muffins, quick bread loaf, yeast bread, specialty yeast bread, and many more.

We got started Sunday afternoon because I had 5 children who wanted to participate and these things take time!  Lily started working on her blue raspberry cookies first and then made her chocolate chip muffins.  She did get a little help from Emmie.

Christian also did his on Sunday.  He made No Bake Peanut Butter Bars and Chocolate Chunk Cookies.

 Monday we got back to work.  I am so proud of Anthony!  He does not usually voluntarily participate in 4 H workshops and contests.  But, we found a pizza roll recipe and he really wanted to make it!  I was so excited!  He started them in the morning and they were ready by lunchtime.  He picked the three that looked the best for the contest and the children ate the rest for lunch. Not only did he make something for the contest he made lunch for everyone at the same time!

Alex made Cinnamon Swirl Bread.  He loves anything with cinnamon!

Nick made pretzels and M&M Blondies.

Everything was finished and ready to be dropped off at 5:30.  We headed back at 7:15 for the awards.

Lily won two first place ribbons.

Christian won two first place ribbons.

Anthony won a first place ribbon.

Alex won a second place ribbon.

Nick won 2 second place ribbons.

Very proud of their hard work!  

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Schoolhouse Crew Review: Koru Naturals

There are times as a member of The Schoolhouse Review Crew we have an opportunity to review products that are not just for homeschoolers.  We recently had a chance to use and review Emu Oil and Pure Lanolin Lip Balms from Koru Naturals.

For many years the people of New Zealand have used what nature has to offer to treat ailments, protect the skin, and promote good health.  Since 2002 Koru Naturals has shared the products that they have been using for years.  We have been using two of these products.

Emu Oil from Koru Naturals is a traditional Australian Aboriginal natural oil.  It contains all natural ingredients such as vitamins, mineral, and essential fatty acids, and is fully refined with no preservatives or additives.  Emu oil can be used on hair and unbroken skin.  It acts as a powerful moisturizer and absorbs quickly.  Emu Oil can be purchased in 2 oz, 4 oz, or 8 oz sizes.  You can see all of the pricing options here.

Pure Lanolin Lip Balms contain no preservatives, additives, colors, or fragrances.  It is pure anhydrous lanolin pharmaceutical grade and unlike many other balms does not have any ingredients that can dry out your lips rather than help them to hold moisture in.  The lip balm protects your lips from sun and wind and is water resistant.  The set comes with 4 tubes or pots containing .2 oz each. It can be purchased for $9.80.

Koru Naturals has many other products.  Click on the link to check them out!

My 9 year old gets terribly chapped lips in the winter.  Last year nothing I tried made a difference.  It got so bad that he ended up getting a bacterial infection and then wouldn't you know it he had an allergic reaction to the medication they gave him to treat the infection!  I wanted an opportunity to try out the Pure Lanolin Lip Balms on him.  They really have no color or fragrance at all.  Even though they are packaged like most lip balms that you see in the store, it was not solid like I expected, but rather soft.  I found it easier to apply it to his lips by putting it first on the end of my finger and rubbing it on instead of running the tube across his lips.  I had him use the lip balm twice a day once in the morning and once before bed.  What a difference!  No problem at all with dry, cracking, bleeding lips.

The Emu Oil  I have been using myself.  I get really dry feet in the winter time, especially around my heels.  I am talking really dry.  Like to the point the dry skin rubs holes in my socks!  I pour a small amount into my palm and message into my heels twice day.  The first time I used it, I used too much and it did feel greasy.  But after that I started with a smaller amount.  A little bit goes a long way!  It hasn't solved the problem completely, but it is much better then it was before I started using the Emu Oil.  The palms of my hands are much softer than they were before too.  I was surprised too that the Emu Oil really has no odor to it at all.

My husband tried to use some of the Emu Oil on his beard.  The skin underneath it can get itchy, especially in the winter.  He was not impressed with it though.  He thought it made his beard feel greasy and the skin was still itchy.  He only tried it a few times and may not have gotten a good balance of oil or massaged it in well enough.

To see what my Crew Mates had to say, click on the banner below.

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Homeschool Wrap Up Week 24

Weather played a big part in changing our plans this week.  We had sleet/ice/snow on Monday, and then on Wednesday we actually had snow accumulation.  Our activities that were planned were cancelled and we cancelled school to have a snow day.  We did get a little bit of work done in our homeschool :)

Week 24 In Our Homeschool

Bible: We finished up our packet of Bible Study Guide For All Ages.  We will be working on studying Proverbs and start a read aloud on a missionary next week.

History: This week in Mystery of History Vol III we completed Lessons 61,62, and 63 on Rene Descartes, John Winthrop and the Puritans, and Galileo Gallilei.  We did the timeline figures, memory cards and took the quiz aloud.

Science: We did a few worksheets on magnetism and made a compass.  We also watched a video on weather.

Grammar/Writing/Literature: Nick and Alex finished Lesson 21 of Fix it! Grammar and started Lesson 16 of Medieval Writing.  Christian's Lightning Lit book was Mouse Soup and his grammar focused on using commas. There are 12 more units in his book and out of the 12 books being used our library only has one of them.  I have one other.  So we will for sure do those two units, and I am not sure what we will do after that.  Anthony is still reading Charlotte's Web.  His grammar focused on transition words.

Spelling/Reading: Anthony and Christian finished Lesson 9 of AAR Level 2.

Math: Nick finished lesson 24 of Pre-Algebra.  Alex finished Lesson 21 of Delta.  Anthony and Christian finished lesson 22 of Gamma and Beta.

My Father's World Creation From A to Z:

We continued working on and finished up the letter "c" for cow.  We made a collage out of magazine photos of dairy foods, made butter, completed a math page, drawing page, and the blend ladder pages.  She also made her cow badge and added it to the wall.  The books we read included the Milk Makers and  Ferdinand the Bull. 

Other Activities This Week:

Monday we were supposed to have archery and a 4 H cooking contest.  Both were cancelled because of weather.

Tuesday was gymnastics.  The little girls and I also ran to the library.

Wednesday was our snow day!  The children had a great time in the snow and we cancelled school for the day. 

We also celebrated Chelsea's birthday.  Her actual birthday wasn't until Friday but she had some plans with some friends that day so we had it on Wednesday instead.  Our birthday person gets to choose a meal and she chose chicken alfredo lasagna, with homemade bread, and salad.  I also made a chocolate chip cookie cake.

Thursday we had school but started a little late.  I let the children go back out in the morning because I knew the snow would be gone by lunch.  Because area school were closed and some areas had more snow than we did, our 4 H meeting got cancelled.  Actually that turned out not to be a bad thing.  As we were finishing up school for the day I walked into a metal chair and broke my baby toe.  Ouch!  

Friday was Chelsea's actual 18th birthday.  Before she left to go to a concert with friends she ran to the store for me and grab what we needed to get through the weekend because I did not want to go grocery shopping since my foot was still hurting quite a bit.  We did get a few light snow flurries on Friday too but it didn't last long.

I hope you had a great week in your homeschool!

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