School Starts!

I did not realize how much I missed teaching school. We are just coming back from our 2 month break -- we do not take a break during the summer because it is just too hot for us to be outside.

I finally convinced Angel, my youngest to complete her hardest subject first--which is math. I think it is finally clicking with her. I was so exciting to see  the look on her face when she actually got a multiplication problem.

Curly, the oldest is starting her piano lessons today. We are both very excited. She got the keyboard for her birthday and the lessons for Christmas.

I have to rework some of my lessons plans to accommodate the lessons but it will be extremely worth it. it.

What my girls did in AHG on October 18?

The Explorers are getting ready for a fashion show next week. The fashion show will satisfy a requirement for their My Style badge. Curly decided what year she was going to represent. The peasant look of the 70's. Hopefully, I will be able to get pictures next week.

Tenderhearts finished their Joining Award lapbooks. This is important because new AHG have to complete the Joining Award before the can receive any other badges. This award is to help them get to know what it means to be an American Heritage Girls. Once they have received this award, they can start earning other badges. Once they earn the Joining Award, they do not have to repeat it, in the future.

I would like to thank the AHG member who made this available for all the troops to use. 

Angel got her Joining Award last year but have a fun time making the lapbook.

We added the picture on the cover and talked about the AHG Mission Statement (Satisfied Requirement #6)

The left flap has information about flag etiquette.

This satisfied requirement #8. I also added a picture of the Joining Award Patch.

The center section had the history of AHG and the Oath. 

I added a little informational sheet on the requirements to be a Tenderheart.

History of AHG satisified requirement #9.

The girls had to memorize the Oath to satisfy requirement #1.

This allowed us to learn the AHG Salute and Sign and when to use them. Satisfied requirement #3 and #4.

 We talked about each section of the creed.

 The inside right hand flap was the AHG Creed. (Satisfied Requirement #2)

Wrote a Scripture reference on the inside (these are in the handbook on page 16-17).

I think the girls had a good time making this. It reinforced the information to the girls that already have their Joining Award, as well as helping the other girls earn this badge.

How did we do this week in school?

This week was not too bad. Angel is still behind in her math but we are slowly catching up. The weekly schedules are working well. Curly does real well on her own but Angel still needs some supervision. That's ok. We are working on becoming more independent in our schooling.

Curly has transitioned well into middle school work. I have not started science yet. We take our "summer" break in November and December. We will do a very modified schedule -- about an hour of school a day (some math and reading). This time will allow me to get the school reorganized and ready for the start of the year.

Have a great week.

What did we do in AHG?

Tenderhearts are still working on our joining award.

 We practiced folding the American flag. (We ran out of time last week).
 

Me and Angel folding the American flag.

 

We learned the AHG Mission Statement.  "Building women of integrity through service to God, family, community and country."

 We learned the history of AHG.

 We are almost finished with our Joining Award Lapbook. Thank you AHG for providing this wonderful resource.

 Next week, we are having show and tell time.


Curly is an Explorer this year. They are working on the My Style badge. She made a paper doll and designed three outfits for her. They are working on a fashion show. She is not sure what time period she would like to dress for.

Wreaths Across America

"To be killed in war is not the worst that can happen. To be lost is not the worst that can happen... to be forgotten is the worst." 

-Pierre Claeyssens (1909-2003).

 Wreaths laid at the Jacksonville National Cemetery. December 2010
(c) dorothy Hemmingway

I pray we never forget the sacrifice our service men and women made for our country. 
Let's not forget these great men and women.

Last year, American Heritage Girls FL2345 solicited sponsors for wreaths and participated in the wreath laying ceremony at the Jacksonville National Cemetery.

For the second year in a row, AHG FL2345 will participate with Wreaths Across America in this fundraiser/service project. 

 I personally feel very honored to be part of this very worthwhile endeavor. 


  Laying wreaths at the Jacksonville National Cemetery. December 2010
(c) dorothy Hemmingway

  

Not only do we get $5 for every wreath that is sponsored through us, 

we also volunteer to help lay the wreaths during the wreath laying ceremony 
on December 10, 12 noon, at the Jacksonville National Cemetery.
The ceremony is open to the public. 

Go to Wreaths Across America to see what they are all about. 

• Individual Wreath Sponsorship: 1 Wreath - $15.00
• Family Sponsorship: 4 Wreaths - $60.00
• Small Business Sponsorship: 10 Wreaths - $150.00
• Corporate Sponsorship: 100 Wreaths - $1500.00
• Patriot Pair (can only be ordered online): 2 Wreaths - $33.00

NOTE: Except for the Patriot Pair, you will not receive an actual wreath. You are sponsoring a wreath that will be placed on a gravemarker at the cemetery you have designated. We will be placing the wreaths at the Jacksonville National Cemetery.

When you order the Patriot Pair, one wreath will be sent to the home address of your choice and the other will be placed during the  annual wreath ceremonies. Shipping will not start until Nov. 17. 

To order online:

1. Go to Wreaths Across America and select sponsorship level.
2. Select a location to direct your sponsored wreath. We will be laying wreaths at the Jacksonville National Cemetery but you may choose any location on the list.
3. Select a specific group. This is Very Important: For us to get credit, you must select our group - State: FL Group: FLAHG2345  
4. Add to cart and pay. 

Our First Week of School . . .

Monday--We were supposed to go to a "Not Going to School" Celebration at Chuck E. Cheeses but my little one broke her arm and it was in a splint. Did not want her arm bumped so had to skip. Will be going having a makeup party later at Monkey Jungle Fun Time Pizza.

Tuesday--Delayed school until tomorrow. Going to Orthopedic Surgeon to get little one in a cast. She picked pink and red. She is with her two friends Hopper and D.B.J. (Donna Bear Jr.)

The cast tech asked her older sister if she would like to experience a little of what sister is experiencing with wearing a cast. Curly kept it on until supper time.

Wednesday--Started school yesterday. It went quite well. We actually finished all that was assigned without any drama which is saying something since I had the most horrific headache.

Thursday--Today we started kind of late (noon) but we still completed all our work by 4:30pm. Gotta love homeschooling. Love the fact that we can focus on learning and not all the filler stuff that so many kids/teachers have to endure in government school.

Angel has not been real thrilled with school. She is having a real hard time with her writing and I think I pushed her too much last year--too much writing in one sitting. So this year I broke (sorry, unintentional pun) up her writing into smaller chunks. Well that was the plan until she broke her arm.  Had to modify because she can not hold a pencil. Oh well, in four weeks maybe we will be able to start working on handwriting. Today, her favorite subjects are Math Detective and Balance Math.

Curly was able to do most of her work independently. Gotta love middle school. Word Roots and Life of Fred Math are her favorite subjects to day. She is very excited about school starting. Hope that enthusiasm continues.

See you next week.

Happy homeschooling.

AHG Daddy/Daughter Dinner 2011

 

American Heritage Girls Daddy/Daughter Dinner - Feb. 14, 2011

Ambitious Start To Our School Year

I am going to start my home school year on August 23. Government school starts on the 22 and we are going to enjoy an "I am not going to school today" outing with friends. I have some ambitious plans for this year.

Curly is starting middle school -- I can't believe that she is going to be in the 6th grade. She will be doing between 4 to 6 hours of school a day (depending on how focused she is on any particular day).

Angel is going into 3rd grade. She is growing up so fast. She will be doing between 4 and 5 hours of work a day. 

In addition to their studies, both girls will participate in American Heritage Girls, an organization whose mission is to build women of integrity through service to God, family, community and country. The girls can earn badges, do service projects, have leadership opportunities in the troop and participate in outdoor experiences.

Group Studies

Bible Study

Monday through Thursday: Studying/lapbooking/notebooking various verses in the Bible for the first part of the year and lapbooking a catechism study for the second half of the year. 

Friday: Picture Smart Bible (formerly Picture This!) to get an overview of the books of the Bible.

Science

Monday through Friday: The Lord God Made Them All"  Science Series Pt. 1-All Things Bright and Beautiful Online Course with Catie Frates (my one splurge) Modified for Angel

History 

Monday through Friday: History Revealed: Ancient Civilizations & the Bible and Romans, Reformers, Revolutionaries Modified for Angel

Geography

Monday through Friday: Trail Guide to World Geography: Around the World in 80 Days Unit Study (did the first half of the book last year) first part on year and then U.S. State Study: Star Spangled States with a Lapbooking Component

Foreign Language 

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: La Clase Divertida

Home Economics

Wednesday and Friday: Future Christian Homemakers of America

Monday through Friday: Various chores around the house

Curly's Studies

Character Study

 Monday through Friday: Raising Maidens of Virtue

Math

Monday through Friday: Life of Fred: Pre-Algebra w/ Bioloy, Life of Fred: Pre-Algebra w/Economics  
Monday through Friday: Scratch Your Brain: Clever Math Ticklers 

Language Arts

Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: Total Language Plus: Caddie Woodlawn, The Wheel on the School, The Twenty-One Balloons, A Christmas Carol

Monday through Friday: Word Roots Beginning and A1

Wednesday: Punctuation Puzzler

Monday through Friday: Analytical Grammar for 10 weeks and then bi-weekly for the rest of the year

Monday through Friday: poems from Harp and Laurel Wreath 

Tuesday and Friday: Spelling Power

Critical Thinking

Monday through Friday: Building Thinking Skills 3 Verbal

Monday and Wednesday: Red Herring Mysteries 2

Tuesday and Thursday: Mind Benders 4 and 5

Angel's Studies

Character Study 
Monday through Friday: Book of Virtues with lapbooking component

Math
Monday through Friday: CIMT-MEP (Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching-Methematics Enhancement Programme)
Join the Yahoo! Group mep-homeschoolers to get password to access some of the pages
Monday and Wednesday: Math Detectives Beginning
Tuesday and Thursday: Balance Math and More Level 1

Language Arts

Monday through Friday: Language Smarts Level D

Monday and Tuesday: Reading Detective Beginning

Monday through Friday: Explode the Code Books 4, 4 1/2, 5 and 5 1/2

Monday through Friday: Word Roots Beginning
Tuesday and Thursday: poems from Harp and Laurel Wreath

Critical Thinking

Monday through Friday: Building Thinking Skills 2
Tuesday and Thursday: Red Herring Mysteries 1
Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday: Mind Benders Book 3

Just to let you all know, I am not affiliated nor do I make any money by mentioning the above products. 

I Don't Want To Grow Up . . . .

As we come to the end of another school year, I realize just how fast my girls are growing up.

My oldest is growing into a beautiful young lady. She is struggling with growing up . . . she still wants to play with dolls and have tea parties. I tell her

. . . what is wrong with that? There will be plenty of time to be grown up --

keep your childhood as long as possible . . .

Then we go outside and play.

My youngest is 7 and boy she is a handful. She is struggling with growing up also.

She stills wants to be cuddled and hugged like one of her teddy bears.

So guess what? . . . We cuddle and hug.

I tell my girls not to be in a rush to grow up--I am having way too much fun.

Curly's Hometown Movie Surfer

We went to see the Train Tour of Disney's Christmas Carol when it was in town. The girls signed up for a chance to be a Hometown Movie Surfer. We were excited when we got the call that Curly won. We did a video about Curly's experience taping the segment. At the end is a review of Disney's A Christmas Carol. Enjoy.

You can see Curly's video online at MovieSurfers.com


When you get to the Hometown Movie Surfer map, just click on Curly's picture and you will see her video.

La Clase Divertida (The Fun Class)

Los Vocales en Espanol

We are learning Spanish. The program we are using is La Clase Divertida. One of the first thing the girls learned was the vowels in Spanish (hence the name of the song). The progam came with an instructional DVD, a CD with all the songs and lessons for them to listen to, a fun workbook and a teacher's book. My girls listen to their CD at night when they are going to bed. They really like this song.

We got to record it on Curly's new Flip Video Camera. She won it in the "Disney Be a Hometown Movie Surfer" Sweepstakes when the Disney The Christmas Carol Train Tour can to our town. Hopefully she will be on the Disney Movie Surfers website by next week. We are going to have fun video taping segments to add to the blog. For now, enjoy.

Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine

I really enjoyed our visit to the Castillo de San Marcos. I think it was because I had prepared in advance for the trip.

Before we went to the Castillo de San Marcos, I downloaded the Junior Ranger Program Booklet from the National Park Service (NPS) website. It has information about the fort and the NPS. I incorporated it in our history lessons. A couple of days before we went, we completed the sections that could be done at home. The rest we finished during our visit to the Castillo de San Marcos. (You can get the booklets on site but it is a lot of work to do while there. They do give the option of mailing it in to receive your badges.)



The booklet directed us to places that we probably would not have gone.

For their Jr. Ranger Badge, the girls had to ask a park ranger and a park volunteer a question, it opened up a dialogue that gave us more information than we could have gotten from reading all the signs.


Curly is holding the device that lights the flint on the cannon.


Hubby enjoys sharing with Curly.


Curly enjoys listening to her father.


Angel does her Vanna White impersonation while showing us the cannon.

Now to my favorite part of the entire Castillo de San Marcos visit . . .

. . . the cannon demonstration.
Sorry for shaky video, holding onto daughters hand while taping.

When the girls showed a ranger their books, they both received a Jr. Ranger Badge and a very nice certificate. Because they wrote a letter about their visit to the fort (an activity in the booklet), they also received a Jr. Ranger Patch.

I will tell you I was impressed. I thought they would get a cheesy sticker and maybe a photocopied certificate.


A tired group leaves the Castillo de San Marcos.

Side Note:
My husband was curious about a show that he had seen about the Castillo de San Marcos. The show was Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel. According to a park ranger, they totally manipulated the footage they took. They edited answers from one question and put with another question. They misrepresented the facts--only two people died at the Castillo and both are buried in cemeteries on the other side of town. The "bodies' (as they are referred to in the show) that were found were in the area where they threw away trash and was, as gross as it is, amputated body parts. Think about it, that is how they treated a musket wound, amputate and throw away. Drafts that they felt, were from air shafts not some "ghostly" presence and their most dramatic video--someone walking with a lantern could easily be explained as lights from a boat in the water. Totally sensationalize their visit at the Castillo.

Schooner Freedom, St. Augustine

This was the first field trip of the year with the Arlington Explorers home schooling group.

First off, let me say that I am not overly fond of water--in fact, being on any boat scares the dickens out of me. So why did I plan, of all things, a boat excursion for our homeschooling group. Honestly, at the time, I don't know. But as it got closer to the day of the field trip, I got more and more excited. We were going to be on the type of boat that was used during the War of 1812 and the Civil War. How cool would that be? Still I was a little apprehensive--but we were going to have fun.

Before we even got on the boat, we got to see dolphins in the water. OK, the day was starting off good.



As I met the crew, I was starting to feel even better. The crew was fantastic--they mingled with the kids and let them help with some of the tasks of sailing a schooner.





My family had an experience that they would never forget.


By the way, that gorgeous woman is my mom!

Curly and Angel got to hoist the jib sail. Curly said that it was real hard to pull. Oh, we also learned a way to remember the sails: JIB STAYS beFORE the MAIN. I think I got that right--I will have to ask Curly in the morning.



Curly asked Captain John about the knots on the boat. He said that he tied most of them.



He then called her to him to show her how to tie a hitch . . .



. . . and splice two pieces of rope together.


The Captain and Crew are wearing Naval Uniforms (I don't remember the year).



He gave Curly the task of splicing two pieces of rope together



SUCCESS!



Even my husband enjoyed talking to Captain John.

THANK YOU CAPT. JOHN, SARAH AND THE REST OF SCHOONER FREEDOM CREW FOR SUCH A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE!

If you would be interested in experiencing the Schooner Freedom yourself, you can contact them at (904) 810-1010 or at schoonerfreedom@aol.com or check out their website.

Have some wonderful things I want to blog about . . .

but they really wouldn't have much impact without the pictures. Finally, I was able to buy a cable off ebay. This is the first time I have bought something like this from ebay so I pray it goes ok.

As soon as I get my cable, I will show you my youngest without her teeth. It is too cute. Also, the girls catching a rainbow, Jaguar game fun, Curly's Lego creations, our field trip to the Fort Walton Armament Museum, our wonderful trip to Saint Augustine and the absolutely fantastic time we had on the Schooner Freedom and the Castillo de San Marcos and, of course, pictures of the modified workbox system I am using for homeschooling this year.

Hope to be blogging with pictures within 7 to 11 business days. :-)

It Is Officially Summer

It is officially summer--THE GIRLS FINISHED THEIR ANNUAL EVALUATIONS TODAY!

Already Thinking of Next Year . . .

I am wrapping up this year's schooling. It did not go as I had planned, but I do consider it a success. I was planning on doing a little of something this summer, but honestly, I need a break.

I have been working on my girls' curriculum for next year. It is very liberating to have it figured out. I am using a mixture of paid, already have and free resources.

This is what I am going to be doing with Carol and Donna:

• Bible - Homeschool Bible Curriculum Foundation 1 and Picture This!
• World History - History Revealed (a collaboration by Answers in Genesis and Diana Waring)
  
• Geography - The Star Spangled State Book and workbook (1/2 year)
  
• American History - studies of American History using texts and workbooks by Catherine Millard (1/2 year--will continue studying next year until books are completed)
  
• Science - Exploring Creation with Botany (M-Th) and Fun Experiment (Fri)
  
• Foreign Language - La Clase Divertida
  
• Reading Material - I am finding a lot of wonderful old books on Internet Archive -- Old Fashioned Education has some wonderful book lists that I am going to use.
  
• Art - Picturing America (going to use with American History) also found some neat art books at our library sale that I am going to use to teach about certain artists and styles
• Finances - KidsWealth Money Kit
  

Carol's individual lessons:

• Arithmatic - Life of Fred: Fractions (a literature-based self teaching math curriculum)
  
• Language Arts - Total Language Plus (The Courage of Sarah Noble, The Whipping Boy, Charlotte's Web and Caddie Woodlawn), Writing Tales Level One Student Book and Teacher's Guide, and Spelling Power
  
• Handwriting - Copywork (using a lot of History Scribe) Last year, CurrClick had a big sale. We had some extra money so I invested in the Scribe series--I got them all. I will use them whenever they fit into any lesson.
  
• Health - American Girls The Care and Keeping of You and The Body Book by Nancy Rue (I am going to do a lapbook using some of the templates from Homeschool Share and some that I make myself) Nancy Rue also has The Beauty Book. I want to use this book also.
  
• Extracurricular - Creative Writing
  
• Special Mother/Daughter Time - Raising Maidens of Virtue by Stacy McDonald (Thank you Julie for talking about this on your blog)
  

Donna's individual lessons:

• Arithmetic - CIMT-MEP (It is free and if you join 3RHomeschooling Yahoo Group, you can get the password to access all the files)
  
• Language Arts -First Langauge Lessons for the Well Trained Mind Level 1 and 2
  
• Handwriting - Handwriting Without Tears
  
• Health - Human Body Lapbook (will be using some of the templates from Homeschool Share and some of my own) I knew I was going to be doing this with Donna so at our library sale I got quite a few books on the body, exercise and eating properly.
  
• Extracurricular - Violin - I tried with Carol last year and it did not really work so I will try with Donna.
  
• Special Mother/Daughter Time - I am not sure what I am going to do with Donna but I am still thinking . . . any suggestions?
  

Having my curriculum figured out allowed me to take advantage of our state home school convention. I bought most of my stuff there. There was not many discounts, but at least I did not have to pay shipping. I also bought items from one store that had a 10% coupon. YEAH! My husband and I are trying not to use credit cards and we don't really like checks floating around (Donald heard on Clark Howard that more damage can be done with stolen checks than credit cards), so we opted for cash. We only carried what we needed and the rest was put in our room safe. There are three items that were not available at the convention and I will have to order online but only one charges shipping. It feels great knowing that I have paid for most of the curriculum and will not see a bill for it later. I will also have time to leisurely look through the books and make lesson plans for next year. Many already have lesson plans and all I will do is copy them. After I bought all of my essentials, I had money left over to buy something I have been wanting for a couple of years--the 1828 Webster's Dictionary. I know that you can get it online, but I think there is something about actually turning the pages of a book.

I am on a message board about Sue Patrick's Workbox System. It is very interesting. I want to implement it next year. VERY basically, you put each lesson in a different box and the child works through them. They stay motivated because they can actually see their work disappearing as they complete it and time is not wasted because everything is put in the boxes the night before. Because of space issues, I might use crates and file folders. We will see. I do not have the book but I have gleaned enough off the message boards to get the idea.

Well, I will say goodbye for now.

American Girl Josefina Lapbook

Throughout the year, we have completed a few lapbooks. I have neglected to post them. Now that school is, for all intense and purposes, over, I have time to scan and post. I will post as I get them scanned.

This year, Carol attended an American Girl Book Club. For every historical Girl (except Julie), she made a lapbook. I have previously posted Kaya and Felicity.


Josefina is the third historical American Girl that we studied. I try to put something historical on the front of the lapbook. We learned some interesting facts about the Santa Fe Trail.


I kept a basic format for all of the American Girl lapbooks. Not only did it make it easier for me, it also allowed Carol to compare and contrast each American Girl's time period.


I try to have something that is very specific to each American girl. For Josefina, I made a Spanish word fan book. Carol got to pick from a list of Spanish words to put in the book.


Here are some other elements that I had for each American Girl. For the various elements, Carol picked a different color for each girl.




I really like how interactive lapbooks. I love not only looking at a book, but being able to manipulate various elements. I think that is why I love pop-up books so much.


I got the "Design a Dress" idea from the American Girl Book Club Handbook (no longer available from American Girl). I really like to see Carol's interpretation of the clothes each American Girl would wear.

I got the templates from HomeSchoolShare , Josefina graphics from the American Girl Website, and Santa Fe graphics from the following sites: map and picture.

Gooney Bird Greene

by Lois Lowry



Gooney Bird Greene is a fantastic book. Gooney Bird is a girl who tells only true stories to her classmates.



Chapter One: We learned about parts of a story and things not to stick up your nose. We also made a five-pointed star.

Chapter Two: We learned how Gooney Bird Greene got her name and what a Laysan Albatross (otherwise known as a Gooney Bird) was. Also, we learned a little about Rudyard Kipling.

Chapter Three: We learned all the different places called China and how many definitions there are for "consume".







Chapter Four: We found out who Napoleon Bonaparte was and where he lived. Also, we learned some about hypoallergenic dog breeds and homonyms.

Chapter Five: We learned about the symphony orchestra.

Chapter Six: We learned about different wildflowers.