First day of school - not really

Well - I've been encouraged to take pictures of the first day of school.  Normally, any mom would be doing this, right?  Because I never sent my kids off on a bus, because I never dropped them off at the door or picked them up at the end of the day I never thought to take pictures if we were just staying at home for school.  

This year I remembered only after seeing everyone else posting first day of school pictures on Facebook.  So I laid out clothes last night. Told the boys that first thing in the morning they were to get dressed because we were taking First Day of School pictures.  After the funny looks and the explanation was finished (because today is actually our 13th day of school) we were ready.  This morning we walked out the door, my camera in hand to capture the "almost" first day of school.  As soon as we were finished I marched myself back in to the house and wrote on my calendar for next August..."Don't forget first day pictures. "  :) 

Here they are... second grade and almost Kindergarten. Here's to another year of homeschooling!

Major Homeschool Project: #2

A long time ago, like back at the beginning of the year, I started a journey of doing "fun things" that tied in to our lessons... remember the archaeological dig?  Back in August?  Well, we kind of got side tracked when we really got into the swing... and then there was the baby that I had in October - which really threw me off.  I seemed to get into the "check it off the list" mode, instead of the - this is really fun to do and they are still learning mode.

BUT now we are back!  Last week while learning about Crete we also learned about an island that was inhabited called Thera.  Thera was a volcanic island... obviously, the people had to leave when the volcano began to erupt.  The people living on Crete left also because the two were so close together.  Crete was covered in ash, and the crops had all died. So the inhabitants left also.

So as a project we created a volcano.  A little plaster of paris, a little paint, a little water, some baking soda, food coloring, vinegar, and dish soap - and of course, two VERY EAGER BOYS to get into all of it and viola!  Instant volcano!

Here are photos of the lastest project!!! Hooray for homeschooling!

Here's the decorating/painting part!  Both boys got to take turns painting the volcano... all we had was brown... so that's what we used... good thing the only color we had wasn't blue or purple... that would have been odd.

And here is the FUN part... the EXPLOSION!!!!!!

Homeschooling: Project number 2

We have been in school for four weeks now.  It's quite hard to believe.  It seems like we just started yesterday, but almost a month has passed,  and we are well on our way into our studies.

One thing that we really have had fun with is our Story of the World Activities.  There are so many cool ideas.  I have left Fridays open for field trips and activities - and boy, have we been busy!

Our first project was the archaeological dig.  The boys loved it.  Which leads us to our most recent project --- flooding the Nile River.  We gathered materials and made a Nile River replica after studying it during the week.  We added rocks for the mountainous area and lined the riverbed with some pebbles to keep the foil (which was the river) from floating.

Yet again - another "knock it out of the park" project.  Both my boys loved it.  What was even more exciting was to see the "crops" grow.  The flooding worked.  The crops were bountiful.  Another project successful.   (Thanks Heather and Kit for a great recommendation in this book!) 

This week we are looking at Joseph. I think that a coat of many colors is on the agenda... we'll see.

Homeschooling: Our first project for 2010

This year we are starting to use a new curriculum. At the advice of a few friends who also really have enjoyed these treasures - we are using Story of the World - the Ancients - for History and much of our literature this year.  School is still only Monday through Thursday which leaves Friday open for field trips, adventures, and extra fun stuff not normally done throughout the week.


Today included our first fun extra thing that was an idea in the planning guide.  Since we are studying the Ancients, along with the Bible (being our most important resource), we had a "dirty dig" today.  Earlier in the week we learned about nomads and how they became farmers.  We also learned about archaeologists and what they study.  So my boys went treasure hunting in the sandbox out back, just like archaeologists,  to find various things that would be considered important in our culture that were buried there by years upon years of time - sands covering these items due fierce weather and harsh conditions... maybe even a volcano or two... okay - I just covered them up in the sandbox... but the kids had a ball.  They found coins, play tools, a play cell phone -( in a plastic baggie - so it would still work later),  pictures of an ipod, a tv, a computer, a few pencils, a few cars, a radio, and a few other things.  

They had a blast!  They loved finding hidden things.  They had so much fun that they stayed out for about an hour in the middle of the noonday heat just to bury and dig again!  Thankfully, our sandbox came equipped with an umbrella! 

So school is off to a tremendous start.  I can't wait to see what else we'll learn this year!

FIELD TRIP!!!!!

Last week during school we learned about flowers in science. The curriculum material suggested I buy a rose and have "the student take it apart." We did better than that. We live in a city with a great botanical garden.. or beetanical garden - as Chopsy likes to call it. What's even better is that we have a free membership because my mother-in-law works there.

Friday morning I packed a picnic lunch, ran some errands, and then by 11 we were at the gardens to investigate. We gazed at flowers and insects doing just what God had ordained them to do. Bumble bees danced from flower to flower not even noticing our presence. Butterflies floated on the warm summer breeze. A butterfly mistook my Monkey for a flower in the Butterfly Garden, landing on him for just a few moments and then fluttering away. There were caterpillars, eggs, butterflies galore there. We walked all around the garden until our tummies grumbled with hunger for some yummy treats. After playing in the children's garden under the fountains we headed to the parking lot to change clothes and then sit on the hill to watch the planes take off from the local airport while enjoying our favorite lunches. Flowers, water play, bugs, lunches, watching planes take off, and just the opportunity to spend time with my two precious blessings! What could be better!

Monkey and Chops crossing the bridge into the garden.

What boy can resist throwing rocks into a fountain?

A bumble bee busy at work

Even the sky displayed God's splendor


A secret resting place under a huge Magnolia tree. Monkey found it.
It was unseen from the walk - just goes to show it pays to explore!

Playing in the fountains at the children's garden.

Splashing!

Careful steps!

And one last look...until the next time.