History and Science weekly wrap up

Its been a busy week here.  For science, the girls split up and decided to study different things.  Bug-a-bug is studying birds and then trees.  Princess decided she wanted to learn abut the ocean.  I downloaded two really nice units from Currclick: Simple Schooling: Birds and Simple Schooling:Oceans to start off our study.  Both were only $5 each.  They worked on several units and really learned alot.  It was aot of fun.

TL is working on finishing up his Survival Skills notebooking unit that I got from Hands of a Child.  He's enjoying learning about surviving in different types of weather conditions.

For History this week, we worked on a quick review of the first three presidents on our start into the first decade of 1800.  We watched the Presidents video from the History Channel and then I downloaded President information sheets and President layer books.  They are located on the same link as above, just a little further down.  I opted not to make them as books, but use them as a notebooking page. 

On Thursday, we started discussing the French Revolution.  I make an information page for TL to fill in after reading the information on the Hands of a Child unit.  The girls did the lapbooking books.  We covered about six of the topics on the French Revolution.  Next week, we'll finish up the French Revolution and discuss the Louisiana Purchase; moving forward into our study of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

I hope to place some of my order for next year this week.  How's your  next year coming along?

The one with the Big Foot..

Hubby's been working the last two days.  It isn't fairing well for his foot.  Its just a little swollen:

I'm not posting the other pick of the side of his foot.  Its dark purple, green, and yellow from severe bruising.  It looks awful.

In my own supportive way, I suggested that we break the other foot so that the swelling matches and he could go into the woods to make Big Foot footprints.  That was a no go.

I also suggested that we take a pin to see if we could "pop" the foot and relieve some pressure.  Also a no go.

Its a good thing, he still has a good sense of humor! 

I think I finally talked him into staying home today.  He's had is foot up but everytime he stands up (with crutches of course), the pain is unbearable from all the blood rushing down to his foot.

Please pray for a speedy recovery!

School year 2012-2013

So here's what books I've planned so far for next year:

Little Miss Trouble-kindergarten
Sing Spell Read and Write
All About Spelling Level one
Bob Jones Kindergarten math
little unit studies for history and science

Bug-a-bug-Fourth Grade and Princess Fifth Grade
English:
All about Spelling
Growing with Grammer-Grade 4 and Grade 5
Student Writing Intensive Level A-IEW
Poetry Memorization
Library Skills grade 4 and 5
Literature to include: Boxcar Children, Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry, Pippi Longstocking, Heidi, Charlotte's Web, and Long Winter

Art:
Meet the Masters

Math:
Teaching Textbooks Grade 4, Grade 5

Geography:
Daily Geography Grade 4, 5
Passport Club

Bible:
Awana
Positive Action Grade 4, 5


Science for Fourth and Fifth Grade
Unit studies to include: animal classification, weather, space, plants, owls, and the food pyramid.  Will be using some units from Hands of a Child, free unit studies from Homeschool Share and lots of books.

History for all
Lessons, readings, and projects to include chronological history from Civil War to current times.

TL-Ninth Grade

English:
Student Writing Intensive Continutation Course
SAT Vocabulary flashcards
English from the Roots Up
Study Strategies Made Easy
Discover what your Best at
Teaching the Classics
Introduction to Poetry
Shakespeare, Yes You Can
Reading Selections:  short stories from Great American Short Stories, The Hobbit, Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, To Kill A Mockingbird, Tom Sawyer, Christmas Carol, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Taming of the Shrew, and Midsummer Nights Dream video

Math:
Saxon Algebra with CD teacher

Spanish
Tell me More Level One

Bible:
Switched on Schoolhouse Grade nine

Art:
Artistic Pursuits

Science:
Saxon Biology

Computer:
Lifepacs on Word, Windows, Powerpoint and Excel
Typing skills

Government:
American Government text from Power Basic
Are you liberal? Conservative? or thoroughly confused


So, how's your planning going?

Planning next year....already?

If your anything like I am, you've probably been outlining in your mind what you plan on doing in your homeschool next year as soon as this year began.  Next year, I will have four different school ages and a preschooler to contend with.  TL will be entering high school and its just going to be crazy around here.  I'm still planning on doing history together as a family.  TL will be adding in some extra classes, such as computer and spanish.  I have to find time to teach the soon to be 5 year old to read.   So, I've decided to change our schedules.  First, we'll have Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays which will be the days we do the most important subjects: writing, grammer, spelling, reading, bible, and math.  Tuesdays and Thursdays we'll dive into nice long history, science, and art lessons.  TL will also be doing his computer classes on those days.  He'll also be doing a government class for a 1/2 credit but I haven't figured that out yet.

So, his ninth grade looks like this:

Math
English
Spanish
Bible
Computer
Art
Science
History
Government

I also decided to change our school year around.  We're going to do six weeks on and one week off.  Here's how it looks so far:

August 20th-September 28th

(Labor Day off)

October 8th-November 16th

(the week off is Thanksgiving week, yeah)

November 26th-Jan 18th

(we will probably take close to two weeks off for Christmas because my dad will be here during that time.  This will also be the end of the first semester)

January 28th-March 8th

(off for President's day)

March 18th-April 26th

May 6th-June 14th

(memorial day off)

I think I've calculated 177 school days for the year.  This of course, does not include any field trips we may take on our weeks off. 

I've picked out all the curriculum for next year too, although I'm too tired to type that up tonight.  Did I mention, I have to give hubby pain meds every four hours?  Oh, and my laptop seems to have died and it looks like the air conditioning has gone out in my truck (its 95 here this weekend)

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Hubby's foot

I had to take hubby to ortho today.  He's still in alot of pain and taking some pretty heavy drugs. 

The fibula was broken off and the other side of the foot has alot of ligament tear (bad sprain).  He has to wear his boot for the next 8 weeks.  He goes back in four for another xray and maybe to start physical therapy.

Thank you for your prayers.  Unfortunately, I'm really sick right now so this is an added strain.

so much to say, so little time

Its 10pm and I'm sitting outside McDonalds using the free internet.  Why?  Cause mine isn't working.  Yep, that and the fridge.  Oh, and my laptop seems to not want to work either.....sigh

oh, and if things couldn't go better......while trying to reposition the fifth wheel yesterday, the hitch got stuck in the truck.  Hubby jumped in the back and tried to loosen it.  He jumped over the side to grab a tool and landed on a railroad tie.........broken foot.

Can I  have  do-over now please?  Where's that easy button?

School schedules

I'm wondering how many of you school year round?  I'm really thinking about it.  Working for six weeks and then taking a week off.  Two weeks off at Christmas and then maybe a long summer vacation of about eight weeks.  Any thoughts?

Anyone have similiar schedules?  Or do you follow traditional school schedules?

Thoughts and prayers would be appreciated!

Praying

I'm sure you've all heard.  A Navy jet crashed into a neighborhood in Virginia Beach. 

The Navy air community is very small and close.  A friend lives a mile from the crash.  We have two close friends that work in the squadron on the jets.  My friend's husband is a pilot with the squadron and thankfully, he was not in the plane that crashed.

We lived in Virginia Beach for years.  We met and married there.  Its close to my heart.  For years, the navy has been fighting the community because they kept encroaching closer and closer to the base.  It is now totally surrounded by neighborhoods.  Jet noise is a major complaint for many who live there, who ironically buy their houses close to the base.  The base that was there first.  This is going to stir up a hornet's nest within the community.

Please pray for those affected by this crash.  I'm assuming it will be awhile before we know how many were killed in the apartments as they're still putting out the fires. 

A retired EMT had one of the men land in his back yard.  He did a quick check and his neighbors carried him out.  Its important to note, that he was still strapped into his seat.  This means that they waited until the last second to eject.  They are trained to handle all emergencies and try to land safely away from the community.  Unfortunately, its too built up there for them to find a safe place.

My heart and prayers are with the entire community tonight

Map Trek

I just found this awesome resource on Currclick. Its called Map Trek and its make by Knowledge Quest.

 I absolutely love geography.  This year, as always, my kids are doing a seperate geography course to learn more about geography and I sprinkle it into their history lessons also.  Map Trek takes all the work of mixing it into your lesson plans.  I love that you can purchase each unit or together in a bundle.  If I'd realized how awesome it was, I would have done the bundle. 

Each topic has three lesson plans.  One for grades 1-4, 5-8, and 9-12.  And the best part is that all the answers are located conveniently on the teacher's page.  Sometimes with TL's program now, we have to really dig and although I don't mind the digging, it would be nice to be able to verify the answers.

The teacher's map is colored and has all the answers for you.  The black and white map is for the student to complete with the lesson plans that are given for the topic that your working on.  I purchased the New World book.  Here are all the topics that are covered:

World Map (Landforms)

Elizabethan London

James Towne

African Exploitation

Renaissance Italy

North America (map 1)

North America (map 2)

Native American Tribal Groups

Plymouth Colony

Thirty Years' War

Australia Discovered

King Philip's War

Ming/Qing Dynasties of China

The Mughal Empire

The Original 13 Colonies

The Iroquois League

Puritan England

Restoration Colonies

The Kingdome of Prussia

New England Colonies

The Middle Colonies

The Southern colonies

The Seven Years' War

The Explorations of Daniel Boone

Early Battles of the Revolutionary War

The American Revolution

The Expansion of Russia

The French Revolution

Napoleonic Wars

Lewis & Clark Expedition

Independence for Latin America

European Composers

European Inventors

England - Industrial Revolution

War of 1812

Growth of the USA (map 1)

The Growth of Australia

Growth of the USA (map 2)

Trails of Expansion in the USA

Goldrush in California

Westward Expansion/Mexican War

The Pony Express/Telegraph Lines

European Revolutions of 1848

I can honestly say that I never considered doing a map for Daniel Boone.  Or how about the Pony Express and the Telegraph lines?  I can't wait to dig deeper into this set.  

And did I mention the curriculum integration guides?   The author has taken some of the popular history programs such as Story of the World, Ambleside, and Truthquest and labeled which maps are to be used with each lesson.  What a treasure!

If you sign up for their newsletter, you can download a free Map Trek sampler.

Enjoy!

Law of Physics

The law of physics states that when your husband deploys for any length of time, things go wrong.

This week started off with issues with the fridge.  After returning last week from maintenance, my hubby had to level the fifth wheel by himself as the kids and I were off at activities.  It wasn't level so therefore, the fridge wasn't working properly.  In these things, if its not level it won't work.  So Friday, TL and I leveled off the camper.  We filled the ice trays and although it took 8 hours, ice was made.  Fast forward to Saturday morning.

Early in the am, Bug-a-bug came to me with a high fever and sore throat.  As soon as the commissary opened I ran to stock up on stuff.  I went to put the popsicles in the freezer and yep, you guessed it......all the meat was thawed.  I've tried several things, but can't get the fridge to work.

That day the satellite went out.  We've been having issues with the signal.  It comes and goes when it wants.  Thankfully, we have our antenna, but the kids miss their tv.  Its  hard too when someone is sick not to be able to let them sit and watch tv.

All weekend it was cool and extremely windy here.  The kids couldn't go outside to play so we were stuck inside.  I ran to redbox and got a bunch of movies and we made the best out of it.  We played about twenty games of Clue.

Last night, as a treat, we stayed up to watch the CMAs.  We're big country music fans here.  Plus, my hubby was able to attend a free concert in Vegas the night before and they were going to show some footage.  As soon as it was over, I was ushering everyone to bed when Little Miss Trouble emptied her stomach all over the carpet.

Am I done now?  I hope so.  I really don't need anything else to go wrong!