Week in Review ~ Week 33

~Family Accomplishments~

~Completed unit on Prayer

~Continued reviewing Articles of Faith 1-6

~Continued memorizing "The Living Christ" (First 16 sentences complete)

~Completed our 155th day

~Completed our 2010-2011 school year...this is my last Week in Review post...I will be using The Homeschool Mother's Journal to track our accomplishments from now on.

~Unicorn's Accomplishments~ 

~Completed Discover the Scriptures lesson on Howard W. Hunter and Gordon B. Hinkley

~Continued working on Unit 2 in Rosetta Stone Latin (94% overall)

~Completed Notebooking Pages for Nebraska, Colorado, North Dakota and South Dakota

~Continued Reading The Secret Garden

~Continued Reading Leven Thumps and the Whispered Secret

~Math Whizz she hit a brick wall…we will be taking a break from this

~Wrote in her journal

~Worked on Red Tides unit for Science (click here for my Review)

~Ladybug's Accomplishments~

~Took a break this week!

~Monkey's Accomplishments~

~Turned 3!

~Took a break from school 

Homeschool Mother's Journal ~ Week 12

In my life this week…I have been crazy busy! And things aren't looking to slow down until Sunday evening. I hope I make it through with out a Fibromyalgia flair up!

In our homeschool this week…we have been finishing up our last week of our school year. With the exception of a couple units that Unicorn needs to finish we will be starting our new year/curriculum on Monday!

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…Saturday we went to Grandma's house to celebrate Easter and Monkey's 3rd Birthday (click here to read more about Monkey)! Tuesday we went to the park to met up with our homeschool group. 

My favorite thing this week was…getting everything finished for our new school year and my completing my review on The Curiosity Files - Red Tides for the TOS Review Crew tryouts!

What’s working/not working for us…I think I (finally) figured out a routine for us. I guess we will find out over the next month or so if it will work!

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have…I am thinking that since this is our last week of our current school year that this will be my last week to do a weekly wrap-up. I am going to use The Homeschool Mother's Journal as a replacement! :)

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

Our NEW calendar area, routine and weekly planner

Our NEW work area and workboxes

Our 2011 Garden ~ Day 35

Our Garden as of last night:

Pumpkins

beans, peppers, carrots, green onions, tomatoes, basil (still waiting for oregano and sweet peppers)

OK...so this is our first garden so forgive our naivety here but, one thing we didn't expect was for our plants to sprout WEEKS after their "sprouting" time that is on the back of the package!

We using the Preschool Garden Pack by Homeschool Creations and an Independent Study Garden Course through BYU to help us learn more about gardens.

We have learned that there is a LOT to learn about gardening! We have also learned that, just like people, plants develop at their own pace!

Happy Gardening!

Happy 3rd Birthday Monkey!

I can't believe that is has been three years since the adventure of Monkey's birth and I DO mean adventure! Let me give you the short version . . .

April 14, 2008 (34 weeks)

     I start having some really weird pains (*note 1 - I had never been in labor before - my first 2 children were C-sections). So I call the Dr. and they tell me that if the pain continues or worsens to come see them the next day.

April 15, 2008

     The pain is still there so I go to the doctor and they do an exam. I was starting to dilate but not soften so they told me to go home and rest but if the pain continued or got worse to go to the OB Triage at the hospital. (*note 2 - I was already on bedrest so more rest seemed impossible; *note 3 - I live an hour from the doctor and hospital so I drove 1 hour into the doctor, an hour home and...) As the day went on the pain/pressure continued and got worse. I decided to take a bath (under the assumption that it was false labor and a bath would slow/stop things)...OOPS...things started picking up so at 10pm or so we woke up the girls and called my mom to meet us somewhere between our house and the hospital. My mom took Unicorn and Ladybug to her house and hubby and I went into the OB triage.

After a call to my OB they got me into an exam room quickly and started monitoring me. Yep...34 weeks and in labor! They gave me a shot of terbutaline and my blood pressure dropped, they flipped the exam table  so I felt like I was on my head and whipped out the smelling salts and declared me allergic to the stuff. So much for stopping my labor and going home...I was now being admitted to the hospital and hooked up to magnesium. (*note 4 - I HATE MAGNESIUM! I was on it with my first baby and it wasn't any better the 2nd time around).

April 16-27, 2008

     Labor breaks through magnesium, nurses stop labor, doctor comes in and says "if you break through again have the nurses call me and I will deliver you",

     labor breaks through magnesium, nurses stop labor, doctor comes in and says "if you break through again have the nurses call me and I will deliver you", change IV, draw blood,

     labor breaks through magnesium, nurses stop labor, doctor comes in and says "if you break through again have the nurses call me and I will deliver you",

     labor breaks through magnesium, nurses stop labor, doctor comes in and says "if you break through again have the nurses call me and I will deliver you", change IV, draw blood, OVER and OVER again!

     Now, I know those AMAZING nurses were just doing their jobs but this got old real fast. I had already had a preemie (Unicorn 33 weeks, 3 pounds 11 ounces) and I was SICK of the magnesium.

April 27, 2008 (36 weeks)

     Dr. comes in and I ask him what it will take to have this baby ASAP! I didn't want him in trouble with the medical board but the nurses were not going to call him and I couldn't take another week on the magnesium. He said the only way he could justify it was to have an amniocentesis and check the baby's lung development.

April 28, 2008

     Amniocentesis done at 7:00 am and C-Section scheduled for 5 pm. They expected to have the lab results by noon. Results finally came in at 4:30 and the Dr. called and asked if I still wanted to do the C-section today or if I wanted to wait until the morning? UMMM...Really?...TONIGHT! So, Dr. showed up a little late but at 5:54 pm Monkey was born. 5 pounds 4 ounces and 18 inches!

Today:

    Monkey is a very intelligent and healthy LITTLE boy. He is 26 pounds and 3 feet tall. He loves "Thomas the Train", "Dinosaur Train", "Cars", "Dora the Explorer", "Go, Diego, Go" and all the "Leap Frog" movies. He loves to play with his cars, trains, letters, animals and sisters. He is a VERY PICKY eater! He will only eat noodles, pancakes/waffles, hotdogs, Fruit Loops, Go-Gurt and milk (we are working on this)! He is a very good little boy.

I LOVE YOU, MONKEY!!

E-Book: The Curiosity Files™- Red Tides ~A Review~

Have you ever heard of The Curiosity Files by The Old Schoolhouse (TOS)?

Well, until recently, I hadn’t either! Read on to see what they have to offer (if you are short on time focus on the bolded information)!

I was given the e-Book: The Curiosity Files - Red Tides to review. This unit is geared to children ages 8 to 13. I reviewed the product with my 11 year-old daughter and she was fully able to read the information and complete the activities with little to no help from me.

The e-Book begins by introducing you to Professor Ana Lyze – Expert in Outlandish Oddities and continues by sharing a ton of information about Red Tide in an effective and exciting way. The information here is anything but dry!

After the introduction, you have the “Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Red Tides…” section. Here you learn what a red tide really is (nope, it is not always red and it doesn’t have anything to do with tides), what causes a red tide, where red tides occur, how long they last, how they affect marine life and people, how to spot one and resources on where to learn more!

Next there is a glossary and a few pages that will give the student a chance to show how much he/she learned.

Then there is a page titled, In the Beginning. This is where the unit is tied into the Bible.

The Figure it Out section connects to Math and covers topics such as the Metric System, Estimation and Approximation, Percentages, Significant Digits, Rounding and includes a link to an online presentation about the mathematics of red tides. We didn’t do much in this section as Math is Unicorn’s least favorite subject and much of this is beyond where she is in math.

The Write Stuff gives students an opportunity to write a descriptive and/or persuasive essay about red tides. There is also an activity on Adjectives and a Game to reinforce adjectives.

The next section is Spelling and Vocabulary. Here there is an Elementary Word List and a Junior High/High School Word List and activities for each age group such as: Fill in the missing vowels, Fill in the Blank, Circle the correct Spelling, Reverse ABC order, Word Search, and Crossword Puzzles.

In the Just for Fun section there are ideas for games to play to reinforce learning.

The included Copywork section uses verses from the Bible that related to the topic in both cursive and print.

In the Lab, gives students hands-on activities to reinforce concepts including Food Chains/Webs and an Algae Scavenger Hunt.

There is also a Red Tide Special Needs Lesson, The Good Old Days (History of Red Tides), Where in the World? (Geography), Let’s Get Creative (Art/Craft/Activity ideas),

By using The Curiosity Fact Files you could very easily make a lapbook or notebook.

Also included is Music Mania (Red Tide facts put to music), Read All About It (a suggested reading list), Wanna Learn More? (links to more information) and Answer Keys!

Unicorn (age 11) did many of the activities. At first she said, “This is boring!” but as we went along she became more and more interested in Red Tides. Her favorite parts were the crossword puzzle, the food chain activities, the spelling activities and the beautiful pictures that are included. She also enjoyed using The Curiosity Fact File Snippets to make notebook pages.

As a parent, I liked the fact that the unit included every subject and that there was a variety of things to choose from! A HUGE bonus for me was that everything is included to provide a great learning experience but, additional resources are there if you or your child want to learn even more. This unit could be used for a weeklong unit or extended to a month (or more if you use the additional resources). I can’t wait to get my hands on more of these units!

One thing that I would have like to see is more ideas to modify the activities for the younger crowd. I also have a 3 year old and a 5 year old that would have enjoyed coloring pages and simple activities that were related to red tides.

The Curiosity Files (other titles)

Cicada-Killing Wasp

Blue Diamond

Blue-Footed Booby

Dung Beetle

MRSA

Platypus

Puffer Fish

Quicksand

Zombie Fire Ants

The regular price for these titles is $6.95, however; at the time of this posting many of the title are on sale for $1.00! Additionally, you can save by purchasing a bundle. To purchase click on any link and you will arrive at The Old Schoolhouse Store!

Disclaimer: The opinions expresses are entirely my own. This is not a compensated review; I received a copy of the product for review purposes only.

Week in Review ~ Week 32

~Family Accomplishments~

~Continued unit on Prayer

~Continued reviewing Articles of Faith 1-6

~Continued memorizing "The Living Christ" (First 16 sentences complete)

~Completed our 150th day

~Found a 3^rd pumpkin and some basil in the garden!

~Unicorn's Accomplishments~

~Completed Discover the Scriptures lesson on Ezra Taft Benson

~Continued working on Unit 2 in Rosetta Stone Latin (94% overall)

~Completed Notebooking Pages for Oregon, Kansa, West Virginia and Nevada

~Continued Reading The Secret Garden

~Continued Reading Leven Thumps and the Whispered Secret

~Math Whizz improved Math Age .05 this week and .53 since starting (she has gained .5 years in 3.5 MONTHS)!

~Wrote in her journal

~Worked on Red Tides unit for Science (I'll be doing a review for this unit by the end of the week)!

~Ladybug's Accomplishments~

~Math Whizz improved Math Age .05 this week and .55 since starting

~Completed Unit on "Baby Animals” Unit from Mother Goose Time

~Continued using Starfall.com

~Started You Can Read lesson 2 sight words

~Used Education Cubes to practice sight words

~Monkey's Accomplishments~

~Continues to watch Leap Frog movies, Signing Time, Dora and Thomas the Train and Dinosaur Train

~Counts to 15 all by himself

~Can identify 20 letters and sounds!

~Continues to show an interest in learning his colors and shapes

~Used Education Cubes to practice colors and shapes

Homeschool Mother's Journal ~ Week 11

In my life this week…

hubby and I have been working on getting our water storage together. He built storage racks for our water barrels and then added wood to the top so we can store our camping/emergency supplies on top for easy access. Then we cleaned and filled the barrels. 

In our homeschool this week…

I have been getting our lesson plans, assignments, workboxes and stuff in order for us to begin our new year on May 2. 

The kids are finishing up their current year's work and even taking a small break from subjects as we finish them up.

Also, we are doing are reviewing a science ebook and will post that by Wednesday.

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

Saturday we will go to my mom's house in Gilbert and attend a Spring Festival and celebrate Monkey's 3rd Birthday (I can't believe my baby is 3)!

My favorite thing this week was…

Finally filling up the water barrels (we've had them for 3 1/2 years and this is the first time they have been filled)!

What’s working/not working for us…

I can't think of anything for here so I guess everything is going well! :)

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have…

Thanks for all your thoughts about the TOS crew. I really appreciate everyone's honest opinions. As long as I make it through their interview process we are going to go ahead and give it a try. After reading all your comments I am pretty sure we can do it and still have fun! Thanks again!

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

Week in Review ~ Week 31

~Family Accomplishments~

~Continued unit on Prayer

~Continued reviewing Articles of Faith 1-6

~Continued memorizing "The Living Christ" (First 16 sentences complete)

~Completed our 145th day

~Went to the Park on Friday 

~Found tomato and jalapeño plants growing in our garden!

~Unicorn's Accomplishments~

~Completed Discover the Scriptures lesson on Harold B. Lee and Spencer W. Kimball

~Continued working on Unit 2 in Rosetta Stone Latin (94% overall)

~Completed Notebooking Pages for Wisconsin, California and Minnesota

~Started Reading The Secret Garden

~Continued Reading Leven Thumps and the Whispered Secret

~Math Whizz improved Math Age .02 this week and .48 since starting 

~Wrote in her journal

~Continued the Ladybug unit

~Ladybug's Accomplishments~

~Math Whizz improved Math Age .06 this week and .50 since starting (she has gained .5 years in 3.5 MONTHS)!

~Continued Unit on "Baby Animals” Unit from Mother Goose Time

~Started using Starfall.com (she doesn’t like Click ‘n Kids)

~Learned sight words the, and, see and a using You Can Read! by 1+1+1=1

~Practiced sight words using Education Cubes

~Continued the Ladybug unit

~Monkey's Accomplishments~

~Continues to watch Leap Frog movies, Signing Time, Dora and Thomas the Train and found a new show to watch: Dinosaur Train

~Counts to 15 all by himself

~Can identify 20 letters and sounds!

~Practiced colors using Education Cubes

~Continues to show an interest in learning his colors and shapes

Homeschool Mother's Journal ~ Week 10

.In my life this week…I have been opening all the boxes of curriculum that have started arriving...it is like Christmas in April for me! :)

In our homeschool this week…we have been getting ready to transition into our next school year. Our portfolios are just about finished and the last of the curriculum has been ordered!

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…we didn't go anywhere but another homeschooling family dropped by on Wednesday. She told us about another homeschooling group that meets on Fridays instead of Tuesdays (Tuesdays just don't work for us) and she dropped off some veggies from the FREE Farmer's Market (I didn't know there was such a thing in our little town). We will be checking that out in the future!

My favorite thing this week was…an email from The Old Schoolhouse (TOS) Review Crew. I made it to the 2nd round! Now, I get to use a homeschool product with my children and then post a review (by April 29th)!

What’s working/not working for us…what's working is having portfolios made before the school year starts so all I have to do is add completed work as we go. What's not working is our routine...yet...I'm still working on that!

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have…Have/Are any of you reviewers for TOS? If yes, please share the BEST part and the CHALLENGES of reviewing. Be honest...I want to make sure this is something my family and I are up to. I know it will take time and we may not like everything we have to review but I think it will be fun and will expose us to new things!

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

Week in Review ~ Week 30

~Family Accomplishments~

~Continued unit on Prayer

~Continued reviewing Articles of Faith 1-6

~Continued memorizing "The Living Christ" (First 16 sentences complete)

~Completed our 140th day

~Started purchasing curriculum for our next year (which will start next month)!!!!

~Found carrots growing in our garden!

~Unicorn's Accomplishments~

~Completed Discover the Scriptures lesson on Joseph Fielding Smith and started Harold B. Lee

~Continued working on Unit 2 in Rosetta Stone Latin (94% overall)

~Completed Notebooking Pages for Michigan, Florida, Texas and Iowa

~Finished Reading Caddie Woodlawn

~Continued Reading Leven Thumps and the Whispered Secret

~Math Whizz improved Math Age .07 this week and .46 since starting 

~Wrote in her journal

~Continued the Ladybug unit

~Ladybug's Accomplishments~

~Math Whizz improved Math Age .08 this week and .44 since starting

~Started Unit on "Baby Animals” Unit from Mother Goose Time

~Completed 3 Click 'n Read lessons with 100% average

~Continued the Ladybug unit

~Monkey's Accomplishments~

~Continued to watch Leap Frog movies, Signing Time, Dora and Thomas the Train and found a new show to watch: Dinosaur Train

~Counted to 15 all by himself

~Can identify 20 letters and sounds!

~Started to show an interest in learning his colors and shapes

One Year Ago...

was my first post on this blog!

Today, I have nearly 100 readers! When I started I never imagined anyone would want to read my little blog!

I can't believe all we have learned, grown and experienced during our inaugural year of homeschooling! We have had family outings (AKA field trips), curriculum successes, curriculum failures, 3 moves, great days, good days, mediocre days, bad days and "why am I doing this?" days! We plan on continuing homeschooling so the good must outweigh the bad! ;)  Mommy has even learned a few things...like how to use photobucket.com, how to use blogger, and how to be a "stay-at-home-mommy"!

I hope you never feel obligated to "follow" my blog. I hope you follow because you enjoy my blog or are getting something out of it. Thank you for allowing me a trip down memory lane...now back to my regular blogging!

Homeschool Mother's Journal ~ Week 9

In my life this week…things have been fairly calm. I think it helps that my kids have ALL been sleeping through the night! It has only been 11+ years since that happened!

In our homeschool this week…I have been finalizing our curriculum for next year (which for us starts mid-May).

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…I don't think we are going anywhere (it is kind of a nice feeling)!

My favorite thing this week was…putting binders/portfolios together for next year (so I can put them together as we go along...unlike this year which will probably take me all next year to put together)!

What’s working/not working for us…I guess everything is working because I can't think of anything to write here. :)

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have…What do you do for art? My children are 11, 5, and 3 and I would really love to find something that will work for all of them. It would be awesome if it included crafts, drawing/paining as well as some art history.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…if you are looking for a quick, kid-friendly, inexpensive (but much needed) way to help the children of Japan here is a link for you to check out!
The SleepyTime Gal For the Children of Ishinomaki, Japan

Our 2011 Garden ~ Day 14

First signs of life in our garden!

Carrots!!!

Hopefully we will see more signs of life soon...unfortunately we are at the end of the sprouting window for most of the seeds we planted. So, we are going to try to start some plants indoors this weekend just in case.