Pothos

Both daughters were helping give the houseplants a little tlc last weekend. My older daughter, who is 10, accidentally removed a small chunk from the Pothos. She was concerned, but I told her no need to be, you can start a new one with that cutting. So she listened while I went on about the common houseplant Pothos, a beautiful running/climbing plant also known as Devil's Ivy. I showed her how to cut the bottom at an angle, remove the bottom leaves, and fill the mason jar just so full of water. She is very excited about her new plant. She'd like it in her bedroom at the new house. I think this is great. She's been diligently changing the water every second day and watching for root growth. I also got to drivel on a bit about the original plant's history and my personal history. Her father and I worked together at a mom and pop pizza shop twelve years ago, before we were blessed with kids. Our boss had a beautiful, giant leaf Pothos hanging out by the window in the dining area. He gave us a cutting of it and we've had it ever since. Interesting to note we made minimum wage working there, which I believe was $5.15 per hour at the time. It was THE best job though. Lots of nights my beau and I worked alone. Just the two of us, cutting veggies and making pizzas. Quite satisfactory! Oh, and did I mention we were allowed to eat whatever we wanted when on the clock? My sister also has some of our Pothos' little babies, all grown up now. This plant is very hardy. I love it and highly recommend it as a houseplant.

Scratch- a place to create and share your own interactive stories, games, music, and art

Scratch

This website is very popular with the big kids. They've needed absolutely no instruction from me to get started programming projects with this program. The interface is user-friendly. You can download other people's projects you like and 'dissect' them to learn how its done. My daughter has several in real life friends on Scratch. They love to make and share projects. My daughter is very into the Warriors books right now, so lots of her projects and the projects she's interested in have some Warrior slant to them. The projects can be made using Scratch's drawing program, but also can be hand drawn photos uploaded or drawn with a computer design tablet. We don't have a tablet yet, but I'd like to get one soon. I think this would enhance the experience greatly.

Star Breeze project

Sonia project


Happy Scratching!

Pattern Blocks, not just for Math

Kids are great. They're so creative and resourceful. They think to do things I never would. For better and for worse sometimes, this idea being one of the former. I walked into the room they were playing in and just had to take pictures to preserve this. I recently bought some used wooden pattern blocks, but boxed them up in anticipation of our move. I can't wait to see what fun they'll make of them. These are some old plastic ones we've had for years.

Argh, matey! Ships ahoy! Or some such other pirate talk, lol!

You'll notice the very bottom of my Care Bears pajama pants in this one.

This isn't the first time they've gotten creative with pattern blocks. In fact the first time I remember well because I also had to run for the camera and snap pics. It was a good four years ago.

This was made by my daughter, who would have been six at the time.

This by my son, who would have been four. So long ago that seems now! Really, seriously pattern blocks are not just for Math. :)

History for 2010/2011

I'm going to babble on some more about my Rainbow Resource wish list for next school year. Once we get moved and settled I plan to order what I can of it. Hopefully all of it! I'm thinking it would be nice to write out some reviews for the curricula, maybe something along the lines of 2 weeks, 6 months, and again at 9 months of use, to see how we feel about the materials over time.

History Odyssey Ancients Level 1
The Usborne Internet Linked Encyclopedia of World History
The Usborne Internet Linked Encyclopedia of the Ancient World
World/ U.S. Map Pack-Laminated (40" x 28")
History Pockets- Ancient Civilizations 
(We already have the History Pockets, but I thought I'd link them because they go with History Odyssey!)

Not homeschool related- but my Little one is too cute!!!!!!!!!!!

Today I was talking with my mom on the phone, cutting up a block of cheese into slices. Little One had already came and nabbed a piece and ran off again. Suddenly she starts wailing and I run to see what's up. She was under the table with our oldest cat, Shea, crying like she was hurt. Now Little One is mostly a little soldier. She doesn't cry a whole lot over bumps and bruises, falls and such. My first thought was, of course, Shea scratched her. I plucked her out from under the table and looked her over, still crying, tears even. I don't see any marks. I asked her if the cat scratched her, she said no, did you hit your head, no, did Shea scare you, no, did the cat try to eat your cheese, no. I picked her up, she cried for a bit, then settled in. After I got off the phone I questioned her again. Same questions, same answers. I couldn't think of what must have upset her. Later in the evening we were sitting on the couch and Shea came over wanting petted. Little One looked at her grumpily and said, "Shea, no!" I told Little One that I thought Shea was trying to make up to her. She smiled and petted the cat. Then I asked the same questions again. All answered no. It popped in my head, so I asked, "Did Shea lick your cheese?" Little One answered with head nodding vigorously yes, "Um, cat, uh, Shea, lick cheese." Followed by her turning to Shea, tears welling up in her eyes, "Shea, no lick cheese!" Then she excitedly went on about the cat licking her cheese to me, then her daddy, lol. This was all really just too cute. Here's a pic of Little One and the perpetrating cat (Never mind the evidence of my sewing, I swear it doesn't live there! And yes, there are two machines, both somewhat broken. One zigzag stitches only, one straight stitches only.)-

Something for the Little One too :)

I plan to buy the big kids some Kumon Math workbooks to supplement Singapore Math. I decided to poke around on the Kumon workbooks website and let me tell you what, I'm sold, lol. They have the cutest, colorful little workbooks for Pre-K. Also workbooks for kids as young as two. Now I bet I know what you're thinking. Two is too young! Tell that to my little two year old toddler. She is very into doing what big brother and sister are doing, including school. She loves books, paper, art supplies, etc. I am pretty sure she will love these adorable little workbooks. I figure if I'm wrong, and she isn't in to them, they'll be there for later when she is. Make no mistake these are not for me, to get her ready for school, these will be for her to do if, how, and as she pleases! There is a book each for coloring, easy mazes, beginning cutting, folding, and more.  They really are too cute!

And it just so happens Rainbow Resource carries them. Isn't that just too convenient, now I just have to click, click, click to add them to my ever growing wish list. By now some people might think I must be rolling in the money. Not so. I just happen to be lucky this year with a bit of a windfall, likely never to happen again in my lifetime. I really want to take advantage of the opportunity to expand our homeschool supplies while I can. Seeing as we're under contract for our first house, I imagine times will be quite tight in the future as we try to get it paid off. Here's my Wish List for the little one, please note some of these things are not recommended for children under three, I know my child well and she will be under direct supervision the entire time she is playing with these items-

Before Five in a Row
Bright & Beyond Age 2
52 Magnetic Letters
Magnetic Dry Erase Board 18" x 24"
Baby Bears Balance Set
Political Earth 12" soft pillow model 
Kumon First Steps, Let's Color! 
Kumon First Steps, Let's Cut Paper! 
Kumon First Steps, Let's Fold!
Kumon First Steps, Let's Sticker & Paste!
Kumon My Book of Coloring 
Kumon My Book of Coloring At the Zoo 
Kumon My Book of Easy Mazes 
Kumon My First Book of Tracing 

Now for Language Arts Wish List for 2010/2011!

I actually have spent a lot of time kicking ideas around for LA, who'd have thought it? I settled on what I did because the approaches are gentle, the time will be spent together rather than assigning a workbook page and me walking away. There's nothing wrong with that, of course. Its what we've done in the past. I felt it was time to switch things up a bit and upon previewing some of the materials and giving a couple lessons practice runs I was surprised how much the kids enjoyed it. It was nice to keep things light and fun and we shared some giggles in the process, which is always nice! Each of these is meant for short, 15-20 minute lessons and we'll alternate between them as it feels right through the week.

Writing With Ease Text for Levels 1-4
This is a non-consumable text for teaching beginning writing skills meant to last four years. There are separate consumable workbooks, with everything completely laid out, including copywork already selected for you. These would be a time saver, but at nearly $30 and needing to buy one each year, and having two students, I really can't afford them. I'll be selecting my own copywork. I will also be able to reuse this once my toddler is of an age to enjoy it. I like that the book introduces quite a bit of literature. I plan to borrow the corresponding books from the library just in case the interest to read it is sparked by the narrations.
Simply Grammar
This non-consumable book is a revised and expanded version of First Grammar Lessons by Charlotte Mason meant to be a mostly oral approach to learning Grammar. Again we'll sit and work through this together, hopefully with some childish comedy and giggling involved.
Daily Grams Grade 4
This is a workbook without answers, though there is a version sold with answers as well. There are 180 brief daily lessons for review of Grammar. I want this mostly for the sentence combining practice, though we may use other bits of it as well. This is a consumable workbook, but I plan to buy only one and do the bits of it we choose orally or on the whiteboard. So no consumption here! And again, I'll be able to reuse with the little one.
AVKO Sequential Spelling
Another non-consumable. I'll be honest. I read the preview on the website and was a bit turned off from the author's conversation at the intro to the book. I'm not really sure what exactly about it rubbed me the wrong way, but it did. However I really like the lessons and the approach. So while it is possible I might not want to invite the author over for dinner, I appreciate his work. This will really be the first time doing any 'formal' spelling. At eight and ten they both spell surprisingly well. I do think they'll benefit from the lessons. Words are taught by word families. The lessons are designed to be short and sweet, say 15 minutes a day. I think the kids may even enjoy this. We shall see!