Keeping It Simple

I am not sure how it happened, but it seems that we have been on break for the most part this week and last! :) First, from last week- the best day ever (as previously posted). An afternoon with horses. Monday - A homeschool friend invited my boys to bring their baseball cards and baseball mitts over to do some trading and playing. The boys played and played and played. The mom of the family grilled cheeseburgers for about 15 hungry boys! Tuesday - My big boy, Paul, turned 13! The morning was spent playing his new game, DOG*OPOLY, and then we were off for lunch and bowling with a few friends. Wednesday - Swimming (just one more lesson after this). The boys are working on lifesaving techniques. Pretty fun stuff. Then, because I wasn't feeling well, we took the rest of the day off and watched Justin Morgan Had a Horse (rented from the library). If you are looking for a fun horse movie to watch, we give it a "two thumbs up". Thursday - We did hav...

Who doesn't love an awesome new resource? You can join the other 242 (as of now) entries on Confessions of a Homeschooler  for a chance to win a copy of Loving Living Math. I have to confess to not having first hand knowledge of its awesomeness, but I am impressed enough with the review that I am not sure I can wait to order a copy. I have plenty of friends that I know would love a copy of this book if I do win! While you are at it, there is at "Hands-On Geometry" giveaway at Our Journey Westward too! So many cool math resources!

That is what James told dad when we got home. After just a few minutes of studying horses, Mark (10yo) was chomping at the bit to see a real live horse!! I emailed a friend who I knew at least had (wasn't sure that she still did have) a horse. She called the next day and invited the boys for a visit! As fast as we could, we were in the car and on our way. For you country folk, this may not seem like a big deal- for us, it is. The afternoon far exceeded their expectations.  The lovely lady leading the horse is Anne, who treated my boys to this special afternoon.  Getting the horse ready for a ride. Anne let the boys try to figure out how to get the job done on their own before instructing. After a little prompting, James was able to lift the hoof for a clean.  Ready to ride!  James was first up. Anne instructed the boys in some horse riding basics.  They each got a turn to try out their horse riding skills. Then it was time fo...

Titanicat  by Marty Crisp My boys love true stories and animals. Finding both in the same book is a sure bet that it will be one they enjoy. While this is a fictionalized account of a real cabin boy's exit from the Titanic due his superstitious believe that a cat leaving the ship means bad luck, there is enough "real stuff" to make this story interesting. My boys enjoyed this story enough that they retold it to dad when they he got home for work- the thing that moved them most, as they related the story to dad, was that the boy found his name on the "missing" list from the Titanic. Wonder Horse: The True Story of the World's Smartest Horse  by Emily Arnold McCully Once again-- true story with an awesome animal (and owner)! Bill "Doc" Key was born in to slavery in 1833. He and his horse, Jim Key, championed for animal rights. This story about Doc and his really smart horse is a fun read and an interesting look back to a time in history when bei...

Part 2: Making paper from a used brown paper bag to make labels to put on boxes so that we can start our own "recycling factory".       Kit with materials ready to go!                                    Mark and James tear up a paper bag (1 cup).  Place pieces and 4 cups of warm water in a bowl. While we waited for 5 minutes for the paper to soak, we watched a cool video about the recycling process on youtube. Add the paper and water to the blender (with help from big brother Paul).  Slowly turn blender on and then increase speed.  Place a screen over a mug with a rubber band to secure it. Pour the pulp on to the screen. Let the water drain into the mug by pushing on the pulp. Place the pulp on a screen on newspaper or paper towel...

School Highlights: We finished our Astonishing Animals study with a fun game of animal charades. Blurry picture, but it shows that we really did have fun playing animal charades. Basket of animal books- lots of fun reading! On to Handsome Horses ! We have learned how to measure a horse, how big a "hand" is, some horse vocabulary, a bit about the history of horses, ... We also learned about Arabian Horses. This completes "day 1". Our goal is to complete one day a week. We also did this science experiment  on "the Coanda effect". I don't want to repeat (repost) myself, but I want to give a thumbs up to Exploration Education . Being the science person I am not , I had a few questions (as my kids will attest to, I can get carried away with questions!;)). I emailed the author of this program and got a response just hours later: When discussing the subject of fluid dynamics, both liquids (like water) and gases (the air we breathe) are considered flui...

Our picture book reading has been sketchy at best, but we sat down and enjoyed a few books today: Horses! By Gail Gibbons Like all books by Gail Gibbons, this one is very informative. The pictures are fun and the diagrams are useful to understand even more about horses. We enjoyed this book, and my horse loving boys even learned something new- horses only breathe only through their nostrils, not their mouth like other animals! Rembrandt and the Boy Who Drew Dogs By Molly Blaisdell I chose this book from the library for my dog drawing son. We all enjoyed this story about Titus, Rembrandt's son, who wants to learn to draw. At first, Titus is told that he is too young, but with practice he proves that he is ready to apprentice in his dad's studio. This would be a great go-along to an artist study. Swift by Robert J. Blake The author, who spent time among Alaskan homesteaders for the purpose of creating this book, gives an intense account of a boy's first hunting ex...

When this experiment showed up in my email box, I knew the boys would love it. And it is very, very simple! Step 1 Put a candle behind a box and try to blow it out. (it does not show in the picture, but James blew really, really hard to try and blow the candle out) Step 2 Repeat the experiment, but this time use a round can. (with no effort, the candle blew out) "In the 1930’s Henri Marie Coanda discovered that a fluid (air is a fluid) has a tendency to follow a curved surface." For a complete explanation of this experiment, you can visit Exploration Education's Newsletter for April . (I don't want to break any copyright laws!)                                                          ...

In the Schoolroom: We are winding up our study of Astonishing Animals with the Adelie Penguin . This, the smallest of all penguins (penguins can be amazingly large!), was a fun little animal to learn about. Download N Go has been a good fit for my boys. In the Plan Book: After the success of "Astonishing Animals" I asked my boys if they would like to do another unit study- "yes!" was the answer. They had a tough time deciding between horses and whales, but horses (on Mark's insistence) won. We are also beginning our "summer school" plans. For the last few years, our summers have had "themes". Officially these have included the beach, general sports, baseball, and sharks. Given their passion about dogs, this year I ordered a Unit Study by Amanda Bennett  on dogs. The study will cover: *Animal science *History of dogs in society *Pet responsibilities *Variety of dog breeds and their characteristics *Working dogs in today's w...

I have a confession to make (one of a few I have made on this blog). I am a procrastinator. There is one place where this fault has shown through at its worst- taking care of my health. I have sort of a double whammy here- I really, really, really detest going to doctors of any sort (for myself) plus being a procrastinator. So, if you are the type of person that makes your annual exam appointments a year in advance and remembers to show up, this post is of no use to you! Be thankful. If you are like me, I am hoping that this post might motivate you! Fortunately for me, while dragging my feet cost me, it is only in pride and a bit of pain. Being the procrastinator that I am, I missed a follow up appointment for a minor skin cancer and then just did not go back to the doctor. So, instead of 20 minutes in the doctor and a little boo-boo on my cheek, I had a whole day in the doctor's office, and a bandaged, bruised, and sore face to deal with this week. ...