Wrapping it Up with a Bow

We are well past the preschool flashcard phase.. but sometimes you just have to go back to basics when you are learning something new right? Every year when it is almost time for our homeschool standardized tests, it means its time to go back to the beginning and review, review, review. Now like most states NC, requires that you test at the end of your school year/grade and even though,unless you are audited, you don't have to show anyone the test scores. I personally like to know where the boys are at, and see if there is anything that we can work on during our lighter months of the summer.

 Usually over the summer we tend to do anything that we didn't have time for during the year. This summer, I am planning a geography course and religions study that I will combine together. As we study a certain place in the world we will also study the major religion of that area. After much searching on my favorite secular site, I came up with this list of books for teaching both religions and geography. Because to be honest I am a member of A LOT of different forums and online homeschooling groups, and they are are very helpful. But I always seem to get more out of the discussions and trust their options more when it comes to a secular way to teach my boys.

Books on Religion
My Friends' Beliefs
The Usborne Book of World Religions
The Usborne Book of World Religions Internet Linked (newer version)
One World Many Religions

Books and Courses on Geography
The Complete Book of Maps and Geography
Trail Guide to World Geography
Trail Guide to US Geography
The Geography Coloring Book
The Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide
Mapping the World by Heart

I am hoping to make this a fun but VERY educational summer, giving the boys an intense look at geography and the religions that are out in the world:)

Noah's Landing Field Trip

Llama, Zebra, Donkeys and Anthony

Jacobian Pigeon, Dora and Alex

Zoboomafoo's friends:) (aka Lemurs)

Bearded Dragon ( I believe)

bald python, Anthony and Dora

Alex's turn

New baby Lemur

My arch nemesis, rose haired  tarantula

My skin is crawling like this thing on the boys

Not on the zoo's list of animal, common toad Anthony found:)

This is no ordinary zoo, Noah's Landing, is a non-profit organization that teaches kids like no other zoo we have ever been to.... This is the place that Alex volunteers at and has an awesome family behind the scenes and in front of the tours as well. If you are lucky enough to be close to this zoo then you don't want to miss a tour on Saturdays 11am and 2 pm!! If you are REALLY lucky you will get Dora as your tour guide, she is one of the most informed people we have ever met. The animals that she rescues are very lucky to end up here. After we visited one of their special events last year, I made up my owl unit study to go along with the special guests that were there.

Hiddenite Gems Mining

Alex Mining for Treasures

Anthony Panning for Gems

Amethyst

Before Smokey Quartz and Emerald

Ring that they made from the Smokey Quartz

Well a about a month ago we ventured out to the Hiddenite Gems Mining Site.  Needless to say we came back with a ton of gems and treasures. Once such treasure was the smokey quartz I had made into a ring for me:) (see above pictures), so the pic doesn't do it justice, it is gorgeous! We were there for a couple of hours getting very dirty but it was a lot of fun, something that our family will remember for years to come. This trip we just did the panning for gems, next time we will probably be better prepared and do some DIGGING.  This is just one of many family "field trips" we are planning to do, before the boys are grown. It seems like there is never enough time and time flies when you have kids before you know it they are grown and out of the house. I am excited for them, but sad for me and hubby. I am wanting to make a bunch of great memories for them to remember and tell their kids about one day.

I am planning on taking it further with the gems they found, over our summer "break". I say break but we really are not taking much time "off" from school, just shifting gears for a couple of months. The boys are going to be doing research on the treasures they found, first they are going to find out exactly what they panned out of the dirt. My plan is then to have them put them in alphabetical order, tag them, find out if they are worth anything, discover any history of when they were first discovered, if the American Indians used them for anything, things like that:) I have seen several other homeschoolers who have done studies like this and it looked like a lot of fun. Just what we need for our summer activities.

What fun family field trips are you planning this summer? Are you going to continue to homeschool or doing other educational research projects?

Neat Swifter Replacement

 

I found this blog where the blogger had made these cool swifter replacements. (http://justpeachyindixie.blogspot.com/) Jennifer made these up for me in a matter of a week or so, now I have washable swifter pads!! I am so excited about this they work awesome and now for the price of one extra large box of swifter pads; I have something that will not go into the landfill. They work so great at picking up our Tuffy and Dino dust bunnies;) I especially like the ruffled one it works great for the corner molding. So if you are looking for green way to use your swifter than contact Jennifer and see if she can make them for you! Now off to share my find with my friends at Secular Homeschool, they are always sharing great ideas with me now its my turn:) Happy Swiftering!

Tired of the Labels

                       
This video hits close to home with me.. only because at age 7 my smart, energetic, happy, always trying to make friends son was diagnosed with ADHD. Reluctantly, we put him on Strattera (non-stimulant) meds and for 5 years struggled to help him first swallow and keep down the meds. Then as he grew having him not want to take the meds cuz it made him feel funny and made his stomach hurt if he didn't eat snacks. But felt like it was required because the school system wants kids to be able to sit and focus all times. ( I still can't do this for extended amounts of times) So the first thing we did when we started to homeschool him was chuck the meds out the window!! Looking back I wonder why I let anyone tell me to shove that stuff down him when I knew he hated it. I guess the feeling of wanting your kid to "fit" and not be singled out as a problem student that made me do something that I didn't want to do.

 The one teacher only really to ever understand him was Mr. Nilles from Kenwood in IL. He had "ADHD", too but until I knew that I just thought he was a man with a lot energy and I wanted to steal some!!  I tended to help out a lot in his class with Anthony in tow. I mostly helped organize his records,grade papers or get something all together for him, things that were not exciting but needed to be done.  I was in awe of how he ALWAYS had the kids attention, he made learning as fun as anyone I have ever met.  He was an energetic(to say the least), creative, caring and understanding teacher, that has molded SO many young lives. I for one am thankful to him for letting me into his classroom on a daily basis to help out and soak in the creativity that oozed from him. He is one person that I try to be like with the boys here at home. So Thank you to a teacher, Mr. Matt Nilles, who cared about my son and gave 150% to teach him.

Sorry I tend to get off subject....

I decided to look into the labeling of kids and how it is affecting us all, so I shared a couple of good articles I found on the subjects below...

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/homegarden/144243765.html

Labeling Kids

Now whether you homeschool a PDD or OCD child or anything in between (frankly I have never heard of all the ones I found during my search), don't limit them by giving them a label. Or least not make it all of what you and people know about them. I really liked in one of the articles above that the mom never told anyone about her son diagnosis of autism. She did let others know when appropriate, but for the most part no one really knew. I am sorry to ramble on about this but I want others to know what I did so that they can learn from my experiences and make better decision for their family.

Knowledge is POWER people so now you know what I do...pass it on and add to it!!

Origins of my Favorite Bunny

History Channel's Short History of Easter 

As a child growing up.. we celebrated almost every holiday with decorations, special foods or candies. I was always excited about three holidays in particular, (funny the boys also loved these three could it be... that there is candy involved!) Easter,Xmas and Halloween were holidays that we celebrated and my mother had decorations a plenty for all of them! Being raised as a christian, now a non-religious mama, I wonder how to explain these holidays to my boys. I do feel that the boys need to know the "story" behind all the holidays so that they will have a better understanding of other cultures. BUT it is a little strange to me that one holiday that is SO religious in its nature would incorporate things that have pagan beginnings.

Let's talk about the easter bunny and the eggs and treats he leaves behind....can you tell me a passage in the bible that talks about this long ear rabbit? Or why most churches do an easter egg hunt? (well now I know since I did some research:) Now, if I had not started homeschooling my boys I don't know whether or not I would have even thought about the history behind the holidays. Not in any kind of depth, anyways.

My research on the subject found several great sites that talk about the easter bunny and why he leaves us those yummy chocolate eggs. So if  you don't already know then check them out and let me know if you are surprised or not.

One of my favorite resources for anything history is the.....
The History Channel and once again they do not disappoint with their Easter Symbols and Traditions.

If you type into YouTube "the history of the easter bunny" you will get a LONG list of videos made by people who show the pagan origins of this holiday.

Here is the short and sweet version of my long ear friend...from this article

According to University of Florida's Center for Children's Literature and Culture, the origin of the celebration -- and the Easter bunny -- can be traced back to 13th century, pre-Christian Germany, when people worshiped several gods and goddesses. The Teutonic deity Eostra was the goddess of spring and fertility, and feasts were held in her honor on the Vernal Equinox. Her symbol was the rabbit because of the animal’s high reproduction rate.

Spring also symbolized new life and rebirth; eggs were an ancient symbol of fertility. According to History.com, Easter eggs represent Jesus' resurrection. However, this association came much later when Roman Catholicism became the dominant religion in Germany in the 15th century and merged with already ingrained pagan beliefs.

 Yet another site aimed at kids gives you a simple explanation for easter, that bunny and the eggs he leaves behind. But I have a question for you???? Why is the easter bunny a male??

Checking our Reading Fluency

I tend to see a lot questions about reading with homeschoolers with little ones. It was a big weight on my mind when I pulled my boys out of the school system as well. Alex was a pretty good reader, or at least he loved the read at night to relax at night. Anthony, however was just coming out of Kindergarten so reading was a big concern. I didn't know if I could teach reading... silly me I had already been doing it anyways but didn't realize it.  Both boys loved the nightly stories that we did, they would pick the longest book they could:)

So when I first started homeschooling I needed to check our reading fluency, I like this reading skills pyramid even though it was a bit young for Alex. It worked well for knowing whether Anthony was on track with his reading. When I found Time4learning it was awesome because we could sit and learn together then I would take the lessons further. He was like a sponge, I was so happy. Fast forward 5 years later and I have two boys that love to read...well about things that interest them.

I still like to test their reading fluency from time to time, right now I am doing short stories and reading comprehension questions. They both think I am nuts because it started out so simple but it is getting harder in terms of reading and the comp questions. I don't think that I will ever stop checking things that I think that we have down... if for nothing else to give me something I can say. WE HAVE GOT THIS!! We all need something that is going great and reading is one of those subjects for us!!

So do you test your kiddos on reading, math facts, etc?? What sites or things do you use?