PICTURES

check out all my picture posts! I put up a lot of photos tday here. only 5 per post, so it toook a few posts.... lots actually, LOL.

MONTANA DE ORO

pictures from my Saturday Hike.

(This is the 7th or 8th post of pictures as I can only get 5 to post at a time. Al lot of pictures from around the town where I live and my yard. Check them out)

more pics from my garden.

PICTURES from my backyard

This is my 6th picture entry today. I can only load 5 pics per entry. I can't figure out how to do more. So check all of the posts today to see all of the pictures. a lot are taken from around town here where I live.

5th entry tday- MORE PICTURES

I can't get more than 5 to upload at a time..... so I am doing multiple entries

more pictures (4th entry today)

More Pictures

MORE PICTURES (did an entry the one before this)

Pictures, "M-Term", SEED BALLS

I thought I'd start this blog with some pictures. I have a lot. I have been taking more pictures around town.

That one is the shadow of a wiggly tree against the brick wall.

"M"

Looks like we will do one more round of One Month School. "M term" is next.

I think I'd like to do 6 weeks after our March session. I have a feeling we woon;t have school the 1st 2 weeks in April. and we'll have a light week the first week of May- if any at all. soo, who knows.

SEED BALLS:

Have and ugly, empty lots in the neighborhood? Or maybe medians between the lanes that are just plain dirt? How about those patches of dirt at the on and off ramps?

Make Some SEED BALLS to propigate colorful flower growth to brighten up your neighborhood!

1 part seeds (native to your area)

3 parts compost (we used a mixture of worm casting, chicken manure, bat guano)

mix well

add 5 parts (red) powder clay (our wasn't red)

mix well

2 parts water a little at a time

mix well

form into balls (or dice small robots if it's my boys)

This is the homeschool project they did Yesterday. I am not sure if this is the exact ratios Michael used with the kids, though. I couldn't remember so I looked at a couple websites until I found one that was similar to his method.

CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWyduWsoy8o

this is one reason

this is one reason why I don't like using curriculum! I don't like that not only do I have to test and grade my son, I have to fix the errors in the curriculum! when the kids were young I'd look at curriculum and find all these things I'd have to fix, rewrite, change- and it was all stuff I could just figure out how to teach them on my own. Then we got to Physics and Gavin needed a curriculum. Brian helps a lot. So looking over this last test, he found a couple errors in the test/solutions and Gavin got a 93- not a 90. It's a fairly good curriclum, but neither Brian nor I are satisfied with it's depth in mathmatical calculations. But all in all. It is very good and I can NOT teach/write lessons for Physics on my own!~ So Brian oversees it and does extra lessons and instructions where needed. The Curriculum is a good guide. I'd just think if people are spending good money and good curriculum they'd not have to go through and fix things. it's not the first test we've had to fix in this curriculum.

what my kids do on 'break'....

Ki came to me today and said "I know what I want to do for school today." I reminded him we aren't doing 'school' this week. He said "Oh, yea. Well, I know what I want to do today that's fun and has thinking and figuring out how thinhgs work." and told me about a game he wants to design on the computer today.

I must say, my boys are experts at finding the "educational value" is anything. Amusingly so...

But Incredibots is a GREAT online game. Lots of thinking skills and physics application:

click here to see it: INCREDIBOTS: online Robotics Physics Game

F-TERM

J-term was GREAT! I still am unsure why Gavin CHOSE to do 2.5 hours of Physics daily- but he survived. Connor had a good school month. Ki enjoys his Church History, Culture, and Acting classes! G&C were fairly independent, but Ki was all ONE-ON-ONE and I need a break.And Gavin's brain seems to need a bit of a rest for all that Physics.

So we are taking the first week of FEB off from schooling. But we'll do a few fun things (and a few dr appointments)

I made lists/plans for the boys for their 3-WEEK*F-TERM.
all CD-ROM (independent) stuff with a little workbook for Ki (and reading for all).
Here are their lists: (I will email these too them)

GAVIN’S FEB SCHOOL (15)
• PHYSICS (Apologia CD)
• Beat The Market –Economics (Your Laptop)
• U.S. Government (Your Laptop
• Writing Master (use CD on your Laptop/jurnal/more detailed instructions to follow)
• ALEKS (math your laptop)
• Read a book. Finish it by Last Friday in February. Choose from the list:
 -The Frontiersman  -The Prince and the Pauper  -C.S. Lewis Screwtape Letters & Out of the Silent Planet  -Lord of the Rings

• TYPING 20 minutes daily
• BIBLE- Read a devotional book daily (we have a few different ones from which to choose) OR Read one chapter in Proverbs daily.

*** I need to assign amounts, I guess, for Gavin

CONNOR’s FEBRUARY SCHOOL (14)
 MATH: ALEKS 4 hours a week
 SCIENCE: 3.5 hours a week
 TYPING: 20 minutes daily
 READING: choose one of the following to have read by Feb 27
o ---Time Cat
o ---Devil on the Deck
o ---Brighty of the Grand Canyon
o ---C.S. Lewis Screwtape Letters OR Out of the Silent Planet
 HISTORY: choose U.S. or WORLD. Do 45 minutes 3 times a week
 WRITING: Use the CD (see mom) and do 30 minutes a day
 BIBLE: read in a devotional daily. (mom has some from which to choose)

KI’S FEBRUARY SCHOOL (12)
o Math CD-ROM 2 days/week & workbook 3 days/week 30 minutes each day
o Language Arts: Workbook 3 days/week & CD ROM 2 days/week 30 minutes each day
o Science: Apologia (with mom) 3 days/week & SeaWorld Tycoon 2 days/week 30 minutes each day
o Critical Thinking CD ROM 4 days/week 30 minutes each day
o Social Studies: Carmen San Diego 4 days/week 30 minutes each day
o Going Places 2 days/week 45 minutes each day
o Bible: Read 30 minutes each day
o Penmenship(writingpractice) : 15 minutes each day

A few things need further details. Those will be orally explained the day we start.