Mothers Homeschool Journal 9/16/2011 - 9/30/2011

In my life this week…

In the past two weeks we have finally fallen into a homeschool groove. Little BBQ has been taking initiative to start some of his school work on his own, and he has chosen to do more educational things during his free time which is a really nice change from my constant nagging and worrying that I am doing enough with Little BBQ.

In our homeschool this week…

We have been doing lots of reading and math because it has been raining outside. Little BBQ will finally sit through books and make predictions about what is going to happen next. I am excited to see his reading comprehension grow. He asked to take a break from addition problems to learn subtraction. I was surprised when I showed him to subtract that he was able to do it correctly with bean counters after me showing him just one time. He now takes out his addition and subtraction flash cards and works out the problems by himself out loud. I can hear that he is getting the answers correct. I am pleased with his progress.

I am inspired by…

I have been really inspired by all the wonderful things that I see in pinterest. I have been saving ideas, photographs, and articles on topics that we are covering now and topics that we will cover in the future in our homeschool. I have also found lots more books that I want to read. I also found a fairy costume that looks fairly easy to make for Little BBQ's halloween costume this year.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

We went to visit our friend’s farm this week to help them install some math and language software on their computers. Last week we went to the park with our homeschooling group. It was nice to get outside on one of the few nice days that we have had. I have also enjoyed seeing Little BBQ grow socially. He used to be socially awkward and have trouble making friends, but lately something just clicked with him socially. He has no problems walking up to other kids and asking them if they want to play.

My favorite thing this week was…

I enjoyed getting out of the house last week to have dinner with a friend. It was nice to get away and be an adult for a few hours. I am also looking forward to working on Little BBQ’s Halloween costume tonight with my craft group that meets about once a month. Little BBQ wants to a yellow and orange fairy while Miss Bubbles wants to a pink dinosaur.

What’s working/not working for us…

Little BBQ seems to be resisting listening to music right now. I am not sure what to do about it. He requested piano music from the library last week, but now he refuses to listen to the CD. I have tried to put the music on in the background while doing other activities, but he does not want to listen to that CD. The only music he wants to listen to right now is pure moods.

Things I’m working on…

I am working on Little BBQ’s Halloween costume. I enjoy making the kids costumes. I am also in the process of compiling a list of the DIY projects that I want to complete before Christmas. So far on my list is to make more felt board pieces, decorating some cloth bags to use as grift wrap for Christmas, and to make a dress up center for the kids.

I’m reading…

Chilis to Chocolate: Food the America’s Gave Us edited by Nelson Foster and Linda S. Cordell. The book is a series of essays on native food from America. I stumbled upon the book at our local library which was a coincidence because Little BBQ had told me that he wants to grow his own garden next year. I wanted to do something that lined up with our homeschool studies, so I was considering having him grow a Native American garden next year. This book has been a lot of fun to read about the different foods grown here in America and how the foods have changed over time. For example, amaranth used to grow only 1-2 feet high, but now the stalks grow 6-8 feet high!

I’m cooking…

I am always cooking lots of things during this time of year. Last weekend we smoked a brisket on the grill and we made the leftovers into chili which I am going to enter into a virtual chili contest. I have also been canning a lot. This week I canned plum sauce, plum butter, watermelon jam, canned whole tomatoes, and apple pear butter. Canning season is winding down after apples, and I am looking forward to a break.

I’m grateful for…

I am grateful for all the wonderful produce that we were able to can this year. This winter will be a real treat with all of our fun canned foods that we made.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

I have started using homeschool skedtrack to document our homeschooling. I like that the program is free on-line and very easy to use. I have been documenting our homeschool on pen and paper, but I also like knowing that our records are also in another location if something ever happens to our house.

I have also been inspired by seasonal bucket lists, so I decided to make my own. I love fall.

Mothers Homeschool Journal 9/16/2011

In my life this week…

Wow it has been a very busy few weeks. We spent a day in Indianapolis. We went to the Scottish Rite Cathedral which has beautiful architecture and stained glass. We also went back to the Conservatory. We took a very short vacation to Michigan a few weeks ago. We have now seen Lake Michigan from the Illinois side, the Indiana side, and the Michigan side. We like the Michigan side the best. I climbed another sand dune while Dr. Lazy Palate and Miss Bubbles only made it about 25% of the way up. Little BBQ did eventually climb up the sand dune to watch the sunset with me, but in reality he was more excited to roll down the sand dune. Other than our short vacation our life has been filled with lots of canning. We have been canning peaches and tomatoes. Today we get 3 bushels of apples from a local orchard, so we will be canning tomatoes and apples next week. We are also making chili all week next week for freezer meals. We will be making several different variety of chili to give us some easy freezer meals.

In our homeschool this week…

Our homeschooling group has been revived after a turnaround in the leaders in the group. Everyone seemed enthusiastic, so I hope this enthusiasm continues and field trips actually get planned and executed. I would like to do more as a group. I also hope that some younger kids join the group so Little BBQ has some more kids closer to his age since all the young kids have moved away.

I am inspired by…

I have found Pinterest really inspiring. I like searching for topics that I plan to teach Little BBQ for ideas on activities that we can do since he is very hands on.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

This week we stayed close to home. Tonight we will be going to an open gym at a gymnastics center which is one of our favorite activities.

My favorite thing this week was…

It has been a long few weeks. Last week Miss Bubbles was sick. This week Little BBQ and Dr. Lazy Palate were sick. This has left me running myself ragged trying to keep up with everything. My house is a mess right now. So far my favorite thing this week was harvesting a bunch tomatoes, peppers, okra, and ground cherries out of the garden. I always enjoy working out in the garden outside. Too bad it rained a lot this week, so I did not get to work out in my garden as much as I would have liked.

Things I’m working on…

I have been working on the kid’s felt board. I have made several pieces. The kids seem to love the felt board. Miss Bubbles has used the felt board to learn a lot of different farm animals so everything is not a puppy any more. Little BBQ has finally started using the felt board to tell stories which is why I made the felt board. Now I have Little BBQ begging me to make more pieces.

I’m reading…

I read Intelligence and How to Get It by Richard E. Nisbett which was a great book to read. The book goes into a lot of detail on how we school and things that we do at home can affect intelligence. This book is perfect for a lay person. Nisbett uses a wonderful critical eye to examine the studies in the field and does his best to give a nonbiased report on the latest research. I also read Quirkology by Richard Wiseman, PhD which I really enjoyed. The book covers the psychology of quirky things in life like how to detect a lie, how to tell if someone is really smiling or not, and how superstition affects our society. I am currently reading 1491 by Charles Mann. This book is an alternative history on how Native Americans lived before the arrival of Columbus. The book really resonates well with me. He argues that Native Americans were not merely submissive characters in mother nature’s story but instead they alterned the land and became the master of their own destiny. He argues that the population of the Native Americans was much higher than historians originally thought. He argues that Native Americans routinely practiced controlled burning to keep their land fertile and they planted trees. It seems that their society was a lot more complex than we originally thought.

I’m cooking…

I have been canning tomato soup, ketchup, peach BBQ sauce, tomato consommé, peach sauce, peach pie filling, sugar free peach jam, pizza sauce, and tomato sauce.

I’m grateful for…

Everything.

Microscope pictures of sea shells from Lake Michigan

Last week we visited Lake Michigan, so Little BBQ picked up a few tiny sea shells at the beach that were perfect for looking at under his microscope. I have had a few questions lately about what type of microscope we use at home. We use a Bresser Junior Digital Hand Microscope that can be purchased at Toys R Us. The microscope has terrible reviews on-line, but we have been very happy with the microscope. The microscope takes pictures at either 20x or 200x zoom. There is no eye piece to look through to focus the image because the image shows up on your computer screen making it much easier for a parent to teach a child how to focus a microscope. There are multiple light settings including white, red (Little BBQ's favorite), and red and white together. To capture an image you just click the blue button on top of the microscope. From there you can save the image to your computer. Little BBQ has found the microscope very easy to use. We use windows, and we have had no problems loading or using the software. For less than $20 I consider this microscope a steal.

Here are some images of his sea shells:

Taken at 20x magnification:

Taken at 200x magnification:

More shells:

Little BBQ's favorite setting with the red light: