Did we stay on schedule?

It was a little hard this week. We are getting all our work completed but we are starting later than I want to -- between 11am and 12noon. It takes us a little over four hours to complete our daily lessons so we still get done at a decent time--I just wish we could get started a little sooner in the day.

Angel is working on the Book of Virtues study. We are making a section for each virtue. 

After the page with the mini books, we will have the story questions and the copywork.

We have completed the first virtue. Here are the pictures:

We read the story, answer questions, and complete a mini book for each lesson. Each character trait has 10 lessons. Because Angel broke her arm, we have eliminated the copywork section for the time being.

September 11, 2001 Lapbook

Curly and Angel's lapbook cover

We got these images off of the internet

The following lapbook is from Hands of a Child.

There are two flaps added inside the file folder. 
One is attached to the center bottom of the folder and the other is attached to the center top.

Carol's Flap 1 Outside:

Donna's Flap 1 Outside:

Flap 1 Inside:

Flap 2 Outside:

Flap 2 Inside:

I am not affiliated with HOAC nor do I get any compensation for promoting this product.

Oh My! It's been so long.

I did not realize it has been so long since I posted. Life just totally got away from me. We got WAY behind in homeschooling and I have been trying so hard to catch us up. I think we are finally there. We are having a fun time learning about Botany and we are making a lapbook with it. We have finished Part 1 of the lapbook and am now working on part 2. I will try to post pictures by the weekend.

We are having so much fun (even though we are "playing catch up").

Spanish is a trip. During math, my youngest gives me her answers in Spanish. It is bad enough I have to "do" math--I now have to translate to English in the process. We made Mexican wedding cookies yesterday and one of their crafts. It was real fun. If you have younger kids and want to expose them to a foreign language. I would recommend La Clase Divertida. When they get a little older, I am thinking about getting Rosetta Stone.

I tried a different math with my youngest. It is a program from England called CIMT-MEP (Center for Innovation in Mathematics Teach - Mathematics Enhancement Program). It is free, but you need to join the MEP-Homeschoolers Yahoo Group to get the password to unlock some of the pages. I really like the format.

I am not thrilled with our choice of science book, but we are enjoying learning about botany. I modified some of the stuff to make it not quite so "trite".

Well, guess I need to stop typing and get back to my kiddos. Hope to write soon.

Donna's 1 to 100 Number Book

I wanted to make sure that Angel could count to 100, so we made a number book.
Do you know how hard it is to find items for every number up to 100?
Well, I am here to tell you that unless you wanted to pay a fortune in stickers or
print up stuff on the internet, it was pretty darn hard!

Angel wanted to write her own numbers on the cover.


Besides the numbers, Angel had a 100 chart puzzle and some various problems that involved numbers.


Numbers 1 through 20


Numbers 21-40


The left side of the lapbook.


Number 41 to 60


This is my favorite item in the book. Sixty-one paperclips!


Numbers 62-70


The right side of the lapbook.


Numbers 71-79


I did numbers 80 through 99 a little differently. I had Angel do simple addition. She caught on pretty quick.


Number 100. YEAH!

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.

American Girl Felicity Lapbook

Doing the Felicity lapbook, Curly and I found out a neat fact. Let's see if you know it.
Clue#1: Who is know as the Father of the American Revolution?
Go ahead, take a guess--I am not going to tell you yet.



Felicity's story takes place in 1774. During the books, the Boston Tea Party occurred. I found these stamps on the internet and thought it would be a nice addition to the front of the lapbook.



The inside of the book. Curly used colored pencils to add color to some of the pictures.
Do you need another clue? OK, here goes--he organized the Boston Tea Party.
Is your answer still the same? A little later you will get the final clue--hope you get it.



Some of the elements in the book.



We made a pocket with the recipe cards of the food Curly tried at an American Girl Book Club meeting. Some of her favorite foods are the Queen's Cakes and Apple Butter.



The underneath of the flap.

When you lift the flap, this is what you see. It is hard to see from the picture but Felicity's dress has metallic pink and green flowers on it.
Final Clue: His ran his family's brewery.

This is a picture of Mr. Merriman's shop.

It was quite interesting watching the girls play the Game of Graces. They are supposed to gracefully toss rings and catch them with sticks. They are not very graceful but boy did they have fun!



Do you know the answer? If you said "Samuel Adams" then you are correct!

I got the templates from HomeSchoolShare and the graphics from the American Girl Website (except for the Game of Graces graphics--don't remember where I got them)

Mr. Popper's Penguins Lapbook

We have finally finished our Mr. Popper's Penguins Lapbook. I got the penguins craft from a Sea World Teacher's Guide. Aren't they cute? I got most of the elements (except for compass rose and color wheel which I made myself) from Homeschool Share


We had so many elements that we had to connect three file folders together. The left side has information about penguins, the center has big sheets and "school" stuff, and the left side has information about seals.



Left side is about penguins.


Some of the penguins in the book were named after famous people. Some of the famous people are Queen Victoria, Christopher Columbus and James Cook. They are represented by a picture of Victoria, and maps of the routes of Columbus and Cook.



The center of the lapbook has various "school" stuff. We learned about a compass rose and some basic map reading, complimentary colors, snow, writing a print ad, occupations, compound words and word problems.


We learned about the food chain and what happens if we change one "link" in the chain. We also learned a lot about seals. By the way, they are pinnipeds.