Nature Study Week 6: Earthworms

One of my goals for 2017 was to be more intentional about Nature Study for the four youngest children (5,7,9, and 11).  I want to do Nature Study once a week around a specific theme.  I remembered a friend mentioning a resource she bought at the beginning of the school year and after taking a look at it decided this might be what I needed to help make sure I actually get it done.  I bought Exploring Nature With Children , an ebook with 48 nature study ideas, a poem to go along with your theme, the name of a piece of art work to look up, books, and extension activities.  She also lists coordinating pages from Handbook of Nature Study if you have that book and are interested in looking up more information.


Our week 1 study was on the winter sky.

Week 2 was on the moon.

Week 3 was on trees.

Week 4 was a pond study.


Week 5 was on Candlemas and looking for signs of new life.


This week's topic was earthworms.  The ironic thing was that I have had worms in my fridge for weeks left over from the last fishing trip, but they finally died about a week ago.  So to have an earthworm to study, we had to dig.  I was not sure we were going to find any easily and if we didn't I was going to buy some.

It was a beautiful day, over 70 degrees, just a bit windy.

After just a few minutes Christian found this guy.

And then Anthony found a really good size worm.

We read the information about worms in the book and the children sketched the worms in their journal.

We read the poem about worms and then put our worms back where we found them. 

Happy Homeschooling!

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Virtual Fridge: Winter Cabin

I am very excited that we have an opportunity to review Creating a Masterpiece.  Our art projects over the next several weeks will all be coming from that site.  Since I do not have any art supply stores anywhere close by, I decided to order my supplies form Dick Blick.  Creating a Masterpiece made that very easy by linking all of their supplies for each project to Dick Blick and all I had to do was add them to my cart.  But, shipping takes time and mine are not scheduled to arrive until next Monday.  So for this week's lesson we had to choose something that we had the basic supplies for.

I had plenty of oil pastels and white paper so we did Winter Cabin from the Beginner's Level. Emmie hurt her foot right before we were getting ready to start (she stepped on a thorn outside), so she did not participate. Instead she was on the couch with her cure for everything, a wash cloth and an ice pack. 

My children are very logical and realistic.  As we were working through this project, they really didn't "get" why we were putting pink and blue in the picture in the sky and trees.  I told them to keep working and it would all look good when they were finished. I was working along with them and did not take many pictures.  The project took us around an hour to complete.

Christian (9) is top left, Lily (7) is beside Christian, Anthony (11) is bottom left and mine is bottom right.

Linking up here.

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Homeschool Crew Review: Times Alive

Are you looking for a fun way for your children to learn their times tables?  Over the last several weeks, we have had an opportunity to use and review Times Alive from Times Tables the Fun Way.

Knowing math facts is a skill that every child needs to learn. Times Alive uses online lessons with animated songs and stories to learn times tables the fun way.  The program is based on the book Times Tables the Fun Way. It teaches the times tables from 0-9. 

Each lesson uses cartoon characters and a story to teach the lesson.  After the story a catchy song and music video is sung about the story.  Then the student gets to show what they learned by answering questions about the multiplication fact.  There are also interactive games and quizzes to show what your child knows.

After purchasing the online version of Times Alive, you will be emailed an activation code.  After activating your subscription, you simply go to timestablesthefunway.com and log in.  Several students can use the same subscription.  Once you log in with a certain computer and browser, in order to save the progress your child has made they must always log in with that same computer and browser. The program tracks the child's progress and each time they log in they can start where they left off. The progress report shows the date the lessons are completed, the score on the quizzes, and how long it took to complete them.

I have been using Times Alive with Anthony (11) and Christian (9.)  They have been working on one section per day 2-3 days per week.  It usually takes 15-20 minutes to complete most sections.

This is not the first time I have reviewed Times Alive.  I actually reviewed the download version back in 2011 with Nick and Alex who were 7 and 9 at the time.  They loved Times Alive and it really helped them memorize their multiplication tables.  The computer I downloaded it to died a long time ago so I was happy to have an opportunity to review the online version with Anthony and Christian.

I think the songs and stories are a great way for children to learn their facts.  The songs and videos are very catchy and I have found myself singing them at various times during the day.  I like the inclusion of quizzes.  I don't know that the songs and stories by themselves would be enough to cement the math facts in their brains.  Being asked to answer questions about the facts right after learning them and completing the quizzes have made a huge difference in their memory retention.  They think the online coloring is fun too.

I wish that the logging in system was different.  The way it is set up, you have to use the same computer and browser each time or you loose your progress.  I discovered that even when you use the same computer and browser it is still possible to loose your progress.  My cookies were cleared on my web browser and next time we logged in it showed that Christian hadn't completed any lessons. I did not make him redo them, he just picked up where he left off but that can be frustrating for children.  I would like to be able to log in on different computers as well without loosing track of their progress. 

To see what my Crew Mates had to say, stop by the Crew Blog!

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Homeschool Wrap Up Week 20

We missed a morning of school again this week, because I had to go to the dentist.  I took advantage of being in town without the children and Art and I had lunch just the two of us.  The last time we did that was 6 months ago when I had my last dentist appointment.

Week 20 in our Homeschool

Bible: In Windows on the World we read about the Pygmies.  Our Bible memory verse was Matthew 6:25.  Our Bible reading was Matthew 15:1-16:4.

P.E.:  We had one day of yoga and 2 days of Family Time Fitness.

Read Aloud: We read 5 chapters of David Livingstone.  For our afternoon read aloud we finished up The 21 Balloons and started Nate the Great and the Mushy Valentine.  In the evening we are still reading The Green Ember.

Poetry: We have memorized all 19 poems in Level 1 of IEW Poetry.  For the 20th assignment you are supposed to choose your own poem.  Instead of a poem we are memorizing Psalm 8.  This will take us several weeks.

E.C.C: We read about Global Positioning and in Children's Atlas of God's World we read a page on Egypt and a page on South Africa.  In the science portion we read about life underground.

Apologia Astronomy: We finished the book!  Yay! 

History: We completed one stop in Passport Ancient Greece.

Art: We did the Creating a Masterpiece sample lesson.  They turned out beautiful!  I can't wait to get access to the site.  We are reviewing it over the next several weeks.

Language Arts: Lily did 4 lessons in Eclectic Foundations Level B (upcoming review.)  The boys did one lesson in Language Lessons for Today and wrote a book report on The 21 Balloons.

Spelling/Reading:  The boys finished Step 21 in AAS Level 3.  In AAR Level 4 they completed lessons 52,53, and 54.  In AAR Level 3 Lily completed lesson 15.

Math: Nick completed lesson 19 in MUS Geometry.  Alex completed 4 lessons in Teaching Textbooks and Christian, Lily, and Anthony completed 4 lessons in Math Lessons for a Living Education.  Anthony and Christian are also working on a Times Alive (upcoming review this week.)

MFW Creation from A to Z:  Emmie started the lesson on "h" for horse.  She did the picture card page, handwriting page, sound discrimination page cut and paste page, and math page.  She also made her horse badge.

Nature Study:  Our nature study topic was Candlemas.

All American History and God's Design in Science: Nick completed lessons8-10 in AAH and through Chapter 7 worksheet 13.

Other Activities this Week:

Tuesday: The girls had gymnastics.

After gymnastics we went and played at the park. It was a beautiful day and there were a lot of people there.  I did not get any pictures because Chelsea went with us and I sat and visited with her while the children played.

Wednesday we had Kid's Club.

Friday we went grocery shopping and ran some errands.

My girls asked me what my favorite toy was when I was little.  I told them that I liked to play with Barbie dolls. They said wow Barbie is really old (really?)  Anyway, I told them that they were much older then me that nana played with them too.  I got out nana's old Barbie dolls to show them.  They were pretty impressed by them.

I restarted our subscription to Tinker Crate.  I really loved the boxes we got last year but we got super busy and could not find the time to read them and put them together so I put it on hold.  This was our first box since I restarted it.  It was a hit!  It was an automaton.  The boys had a great time putting it together and reading the Tinkerzine. The box had a bonus project that they will build this week.

I have a laptop that does not work.  Alex wanted to see what makes it work and see if he could figure out how to fix it.  I think it is way beyond fixing but an educational experience anyway.

The girls found a couple of ornament kits and made those one day this week.

Every time I start a sewing project, Lily wants to help, which means she wants to do it.

I hope you had a great week!

Happy Homeschooling!

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Nature Study Week 5: Candlemas

One of my goals for 2017 was to be more intentional about Nature Study for the four youngest children (5,7,9, and 11).  I want to do Nature Study once a week around a specific theme.  I remembered a friend mentioning a resource she bought at the beginning of the school year and after taking a look at it decided this might be what I needed to help make sure I actually get it done.  I bought Exploring Nature With Children , an ebook with 48 nature study ideas, a poem to go along with your theme, the name of a piece of art work to look up, books, and extension activities.  She also lists coordinating pages from Handbook of Nature Study if you have that book and are interested in looking up more information.


Our week 1 study was on the winter sky.

Week 2 was on the moon.

Week 3 was on trees.

Week 4 was a pond study.

This week's nature study them was Candlemas.  I have to admit I had never heard of this before.  Candlemas is observed on February 2nd (halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox)and is known as "The Feast of the presentation of Christ in the temple."

The nature study was to take a walk and look for signs of new life.  I have to tell you that we had some beautiful days this week, in the 70's.  But I did not look ahead at the weather and February 2nd was cold and cloudy!  Our "walk" was in the yard and very short.  The children looked for anything that suggested spring. 

Christian found some weeds that started growing in the yard and drew those. 

Lily found some leaves on the rosebush. 

Anthony saw a robin at the bird feeder.

Happy Homeschooling!

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Review: Because You're Mine by Colleen Coble

Book Description

"Alanna has been plagued by tragedy. So it should come as no surprise that in the beauty that surrounds Charleston, all is not as it seems.

When her husband is killed by a car bomb while their band is on tour in Charleston, Alanna doesn’t know where to turn. Her father-in-law is threatening to take custody of the baby she carries, but the one thing she knows for sure is that she can’t lose the last piece of Liam she has left.

Their manager offers her a marriage of convenience to gain her U.S. citizenship and allow her to escape her father-in-law’s control. It seems like the perfect solution . . . but her doubts begin almost as soon as she arrives at Barry’s family home, a decaying mansion surrounded by swamp.

To make matters worse, Liam’s best friend survived the car bomb. She’s never really liked Jesse and now she can’t seem to get away from him. When he takes Liam’s place in their band, it’s almost more than she can bear.

But then things start happening. Things that could easily cost Alanna her life—or the life of her unborn child. Are they merely coincidences? Or is there something much more sinister at work?"

I enjoy reading books by Colleen Coble because I like suspense, but not a lot of violence, bad language, or other inappropriate content so her books are perfect for me. I do not want note that there was one use of a word (wh--e) that I was not thrilled with.  I enjoyed the characters and the setting in Because You're Mine, the Irish heritage mixed with Louisiana.  Some of the decisions that Alanna made would not be completely believable if it was real life, but it is a story, not real life.  The plot was complex.  One of the main plot elements was very easy to figure out.  I am pretty sure that anyone who picks up this book will see it coming a mile away, but there were plenty of twists and turns to the story to keep the reader engaged and guessing until the end.  There were spiritual elements to the story that I wasn't sure what direction the author was going to take it, but it all was resolved in the end. I could not put the book down and had to read it finish it all in one day. 

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review.  I received no other compensation and all opinions are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance to the FTC regulations.

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Virtual Fridge: Creating a Masterpiece Sample Lesson

I am very excited about our upcoming review product, a 6 month subscription to Creating a Masterpiece!  We will be using this website for our weekly art projects for the next several weeks. Our subscription doesn't start until next week, but I was eager to get started on it, so this week we did the sample lesson for our art lesson.

Creating a Masterpiece teaches using a video lesson.  The sample lesson is a part of their level 2 Simply Serene lesson.  To do this lesson, you need a set of chalk pastels and some black paper.  The lesson is split into three different videos.  It took us almost an hour to complete the lesson.


I was doing the lesson along with the children and did not get a ton of pictures but I did take a few.

We found the lesson very easy to follow along with and so easy to pause the video when you need to.  I was very impressed with the results!  I find it interesting that my children do not like how messy chalks are.  It is not their favorite type of art but I think the pictures are beautiful. 

Here is Emmie's.  She is 5.  The black thing in the middle of the bottom of the paper is apparently some kind of pole.  Not really sure why she added that in.

This is Lily's.  She is 7.

Here is Christian's.  He is 9.  He was not happy with his trees.

This is Anthony's. He is 11.

And this one is mine.

I am making a list of art supplies so I can order what we need to complete several projects.  We are starting with the projects in the beginner level and see where we go from there.

I am linking up here.

Happy Homeschooling!

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