Beginning of an Egyptian Queen

Not a good picture....but the beginning of her Egyptian outfit.  She made the jewelry and put the trim on.  We have both enjoyed this unit on Egypt and have learned many new tidbits.  Tomorrow we will work on the crown.

Note Taking

Well, we took another plunge and started lecturing and having our youngest take notes.  At this stage, she is learning what is important and what is not.   She wants to copy everything down word for word.  The skill of condensing thoughts and information and then putting those same concepts in your own words is not coming easy to her.  But, we are pushing forward and spending time each school day on the skill!  Today was a good day..........

Timelines

I love timelines!!  The company http://homeschoolinthewoods.com/ does a great job on them.  We have plunged in and bought all the years and the timeline book and the placement book.  Our youngest loves guessing what year things happened and then reading the description and putting it where it goes.  These products have been a great supplement for our curriculum.

Recogniton

I love homeschooling my children.  I have realized that one area I have been too relaxed in is with recognition.  I have not been good about timely report cards or certificates of honor.  What has been a blessing are the co-ops my girls have been part of.  Working with other peers has challenged them and encouraged them to do their best.  This semester, my oldest worked very hard on her Chemistry Lab co-op.  She pushed herself, made the work a priority, and went beyond what was asked of her..............and the recognition for her:  the above note on the class board and a beautiful gift.  For my daughter, she just needed that boost, as do all our children.  

Hands On ~

This past month has been wonderful!  We have done so many hands on activities and because of that, learning was fun.  The hard thing is, this child thinks outside the box C O N S T A N T L Y, so to follow a simple, step by step instruction, turns into a 3 day project that has many layers to it.  She challenges me to keep up with her.  What I realize is...............she is loving it and loves learning now.  So bring it on, and we will find a way to incorporate a creative project to attach to each item we are learning!!

Egypt (continued)

We were able to replicate what an archeologist does, but on a smaller scale.  We bought a terra cotta pot (.89) and a terra cotta pen (2.99 - because we will use the pen to decorate other items in the future).  Shelby drew on the pot and then put it in a plastic bag, broke it into pieces and glued it back together.  (which was frustrating for her).  You could take it and bury it in sand and have someone else dig it up, glue it together and find out what the saying says.  We took the short cut.  Shelby loved it!!

Ziggurat

Shelby is enjoying this time learning about Egypt.  Yesterday she made a Ziggurat.  She took cardboard boxes of different size, glued them together, painted with paint and cornmeal added in and added stairs.  Today she is making a ship......we love Tapestry of Grace!

Salt Maps - 2

Shelby is working hard on her Egypt salt map.  We have switched to Tapestry of Grace and we are loving it.  We have found some supplemental materials, so our hands on activities can continue and we have more to choose from!!

Salt Maps

Tapestry of Grace.........Year One.............Unit One..............here we come...........................first project:  Salt Map of Egypt.  Shelby could hardly wait to do it.

Math on the couch....

We were able to find and purchase Shelby her math blocks the other day.  Educational Accents has been a great resource for us to find curriculum and related material at half the original price.  So now Shelby can watch her DVD on math and use her blocks to work the problem out.  She thought it was pretty cool, and loved working with the blocks!  (I have a feeling, when not in use for math, she will be building with them and supplementing with Lego's.  I adore this chick!

School in the van..........

This week has been filled to capacity with appts, classes and errands that had to happen within specified times.  On top of that, by time Thursday came, it was all I could do to drive to a class 45 minutes away for Amber.  The night before we just had a wind storm, and my hope was there was enough trees down that we could stay home.  Well needless to say, we headed out (a little earlier than usual), just to be sure if we encountered any road blocks, we would still make it to class on time.  Shelby and I loaded the van up with my books and her books, we dropped Amber off, ran to McDonald's and came back and sat in the driveway and did school.  Shelby thought it was a riot and made herself right at home........literally!

It Does Happen

Every so often school falls into place and a routine is found for a day!  When I am home, it is so much easier to find the routine, but so much of our time is spent at NC and with that school goes to the back burner....but there is a day when it does happen......and on this day we had someone special join us!!

I love these kids!