Week In Review - A Chariot, Bible Times, and Amber's #1!

What a fun and exciting week!  Most exciting, the USA Swimming rankings were updated this week, and right now, Amber has the #1 fastest time in the United States for 13 year old girls in the 50 Freestyle!  She is super-excited and is feeling more hopeful than ever that her Junior National cut in the 50 Free is within her reach!  The Junior National cut is 23.79 and Amber's best time is 24.22 so she's getting closer and closer.  For those who don't spend endless hours at pools with competitive swimmers (like me), Junior Nationals is a national level swim meet (for the WHOLE United States) held twice a year, for those swimmers 18 and under who make the time cuts.

Needless to say, my teenage daughter has been in really good spirits this week!  In between dreaming about Junior Nationals, she still had to do her schoolwork!  Amber finished "The Scarlet Letter" and absolutely adored it.  I was so, so happy the other night when she actually said to me, "I'm so glad you're having me read all of these classic books."  She started reading "Treasure Island" this week and is enjoying that book as well.  She is a huge "Pirates of the Caribbean" fan and she's been having so much fun drawing connections between those movies and "Treasure Island."

She also seems to be back on track with Algebra and has been doing well in her lessons.  In Biology, she is looking forward to getting past the next few chapters because she thinks the book looks much more interesting (and a bit easier) once she gets past all the microscopic stuff.

Mason finished "James and the Giant Peach" this week and liked the book quite a bit.  We plan to watch the movie soon and discuss any differences we see between the book and the movie.  He started reading "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" this week.

Duncan and Mason started a new section in their Ancient History Writing Lessons this week on narrative stories.  Basically, they are applying the key-word outline idea to a narrative story without pulling key words from each sentence.  We are working on the first paragraph together as it is a bit different than what they have done so far in the course.

We took one day this week just to work on projects which was such a blessing.  Amber and Mason spent most of the day designing and painting the front of the chariot their youth group is making for our church's annual Trunk or Treat this coming Saturday.  Their youth group is sponsoring a car for the event with an ancient Roman theme.  They are tranforming the back of the truck into a Roman chariot.  I was so impressed with Amber and Mason's finished chariot front!

During our "working on projects day" Amber also helped Duncan tie-dye a t-shirt for his Halloween costume.  She also tie-dyed another shirt for herself at the same time.

While all of this creative activity was going on, I spent most of the day in the kitchen baking cookies for our church's Trunk or Treat event on Saturday.  I made almost 5 dozen in all!

Mason worked throughout the week on making more ornaments for the mini-tree he is donating to our local library for their annual silent auction.  I think my favorite ornament from this week is the mini Hostess cupcake.  He used Sculpey III to craft the ornaments. 

In history this week, we moved out of ancient Egypt into a study of the ancient Israelites.  We started reading two great books, Lamps, Scrolls & Goatskin Bottles and Kings and Carpenters: 100 Bible Land Jobs You Might Have Praised or Panned.  Since so much of ancient Israelite history is biblical history, I have heard many times this week - "I remember that from Veggie Tales."  Duncan used our "work on projects day" to watch a few of our Veggie Tales VHS tapes while doing Perler beads.

That was our Week in Review!  If you would like to read about what other homeschoolers have been doing this week, check out the Weekly Wrap Up over at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.         

Yuck!, Yuck!, and More Yuck! - Buckets-O-Fun Review

One of the most enjoyable parts of being on The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew is getting to review fun products and sharing them with my children.  I recently had the pleasure of reviewing the Yuck products from Buckets-O-Fun.  Buckets-O-Fun is a great resource for fun and unusual products for the event needs of groups like churches, schools, and corporations.  In addition to Yuck, Buckets-O-Fun also carries rubber animals, inflatables, water fun toys, finger rockets, and many more fun products.  I can only imagine how much fun the youth group at our church would have with any of the products from Buckets-O-Fun!

I received a sample of each of the four different kinds of Yuck sold by Buckets-O-Fun:

• Sticky Yuck
• Saucy Yuck
• Snowy Yuck
• Chunky Yuck.

Yuck is a polymer so I incorporated our exploration of the four different kinds of Yuck into my boys' Chemistry class.  Yuck was very easy to make - you simply mix it with water.  My boys absolutely loved playing with all four different kinds of Yuck!  Mason's favorite kind of Yuck was the Sticky Yuck.  Sticky Yuck is truly a young boy's dream - it's so sticky and gross!


One word of caution, though, about the Sticky Yuck, it was difficult to clean up.  While the other three types of Yuck were fairly easy to clean-up, the Sticky Yuck was just SO sticky.  I would recommend using Sticky Yuck with a disposable table covering.

Duncan loved both the Snowy and the Saucy Yuck as his favorites.  The Snowy Yuck was so neat in that it really felt like snow, without all of the coldness that goes along with snow!  We even froze our Snowy Yuck to see what would happen. 

Of course, my teenager couldn't be left out of the fun completely!  She enjoyed getting her hands into the Snowy Yuck and playing with it!

The Saucy Yuck had an applesauce-like consistency.  The boys recruited some of the Lego guys to help them explore the Saucy Yuck.  

Lastly, the Chunky Yuck made the largest pieces of Yuck.  When the water had been fully absorbed, the pieces of Yuck were about as big as small ice cubes.

Yuck is sold in various quantities.  For example, one pound of Saucy Yuck is $18.00 and makes between 35 and 60 gallons of Yuck.  If you would like to try Yuck for yourself, you can request a free sample.  Buckets-O-Fun has lots of unique and fun products that might just be the perfect thing for an upcoming birthday party, family reunion, or Christmas present. 

I received samples of all four kinds of Yuck in exchange for my review.  No other rewards, monetary or otherwise, were given in exchange for my review.        

PG Key Review

As part of my responsibilities as a member of The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew, I recently reviewed PG Key.  As many parents would agree, diligent and constant vigilance regarding children's online computer time is crucial to keeping them protected from damaging online content and online predators.  While I feel active supervision, clear guidelines for computer use, and open lines of communication are the most important factors in protecting our children online, PG Key may be a useful tool for parents as well in our efforts to protect our children online.

PG Key was developed with input from many groups concerned about children and online safety - Internet security experts, law enforcement, educators, family psychologists, and parents.  PG Key requires no annual fee and offers all of the following features:

• The ability to control when the computer is used and for how long
• The SafeKey Safe Search home page blocks hundreds of thousands of inappropriate websites.  As well, you have the option of only allowing access to websites that you have approved.
• E-mail notifications can be sent if an inappropriate keyword search is conducted.  You may choose any words or phrases for which you would like to receive notifications.
• All computer activity (both online and offline) are recorded so that you can easily view EXACTLY what your child has been doing on the computer.

I did find PG Key incredibly easy to install.  All I had to do was to insert PG Key into a USB port on my computer and follow the simple instructions on my computer screen.

After installation, my home page on my computer changed to the SafeKey Safe Search home page.  While I did not run a wide variety of inappropriate key word searches simply because I did not feel comfortable doing so, I did type in the word "pornography."  In looking over the sites that came up, they did seem to be of an academic nature.  Again, I did not click on all of the links so I can not verify that no inappropriate images or websites would be accessed.

Since I had requested that "pornography" be a key word search of which I wanted to be notified in my initial installation, I was pleased to see that I received an e-mail later in the day letting me know that a "pornography" key word search was conducted.

The aspect of PG Key that I thought was the most interesting, though, was that everything a child (or anybody) was doing on the protected computer was recorded.  At the end of the day, I watched the online and offline activity of my family just like I was watching a movie.  I saw the math curriculum that my boys use for math class being completed, my quick pop-ins to check my e-mail a few times during the day, and my youngest son's visit to the Mythbusters site.  My children all know that they must check with me before visiting a new website so Duncan's visit to the Mythbusters site did not come as a surprise.

While watching the movie of the day's computer use, the viewer did freeze up on me and refused to play any more footage.  I received an "error uncompressing image data."  In complete fairness, I did not contact technical support to resolve the issue due to time constraints.  I know they have been very helpful to other reviewers.  I feel confident that my minor issue could be easily resolved.

PG Key is available both online and at many major retailers.  PG Key can be purchased online for $49.99.  As well, you can call 1-800-301-8698 to find a retailer in your area that sells PG Key.

I received PG Key free in exchange for providing my opinions in a review.  No other compensation of any kind was given in exchange for this review. 
   

Week in Review - Pumpkin Festival, Finished Reports, and a Funky, Funky Egg

We had an incredibly enjoyable and quite productive week - which is exactly the combination of attributes that I adore!  By far, the highlight of the week was taking Thursday off from our regular studies and spending the day at a huge Pumpkin Festival about 3 hours from our home.  I actually visited this Pumpkin Festival when I was a girl, about 30 years ago.  It was so very fun to visit again with my family - we had such a good time. 

We took lots of fun pictures in front of pumpkins...

and ate lots of fair food and pumpkin-themed treats...

and enjoyed looking at many beautiful handmade items on display.  I LOVE this quilt!

After spending the day at the Pumpkin Festival, I really feel like I've celebrated autumn.  The weather was crisp, the air was full of fair-food smells, and the feeling of small-town America was all around me.  I even got to eat my very favorite fair-food, funnel cake!

The week did start with me feeling a bit tired and flustered.  We logged over 25 hours at swim meets over the week-end starting Friday evening and going all the way through to Sunday evening.  My children all did well, though, and Amber inched even closer to her Junior National time in the 50 Free, swimming her best time of 24.22.  Yea, she's fast.  Needless to say, I wasn't completely prepared for school on Monday morning, though! 

 
Even with a hectic start, we had a smooth week and accomplished a great deal.  Mason and Duncan both finished their ancient Egypt reports in their IEW Ancient History Based Writing Lessons course.  They both did such a great job!  I am just so beyond thrilled with how my boys' writing is improving through this course.  Duncan was eager to share his finished report with his dad, who was impressed.

Of course, the children progressed in all of their basic subjects.  Here is Mason being tortured by me marking the words in a sentence with the correct parts of speech and diagramming all of the prepositional phrases.  While grammar is definitely not a favorite subject for Mason, grammar rules are really starting to click for him this year and he's doing better than ever in the subject. 

Amber finished module 5 this week in Biology and earned a B on the module test!  We spent an extra week on module 5 because Amber was having some trouble with the information in that, in this particular chapter with its emphasis on chemistry, it was all new for her.  She was very happy with her test grade (and so was I). 

We are finishing up the labs from module 5 as well.  We were both amazed at what happens to an egg when soaked in vinegar for a day or two.  Funky, funky egg!  So squishy!

 
After needing to go back and re-do several lessons in Algebra, Amber ended the week with a perfect score on her chapter test.  Yea!  She is also finishing The Scarlet Letter this week-end and will start reading Treasure Island next week.

While we didn't have time to do our art lesson this week, Amber and Mason both worked on some creative projects this week.  In sewing, Amber and I started on her book bag project.  This is our most challenging project yet as it includes snaps, velcro tape, and a zipper.  Amber picked out three complementary fabrics for her book bag project.  I particularly love the cupcake fabric.

 
Amber also worked independently on more projects from Socks Appeal: 16 Fun & Funky Friends Sewn from Socks by Brenna Maloney.  She completed an octopus...

 another mouse, and a cute, baby owl! 

Mason started making ornaments this week for the mini-tree we are donating for our local library's annual mini-tree silent auction.  The theme for the tree Mason is making is "Visions of Sugarplums Danced In Their Heads."  He is making an all-sweets themed tree.  He is making them all out of Sculpey III clay.  I think they are turning out so well - I may just have to bid on the tree myself!

We ended our week with take-out pizza from Little Caesar's.  At just 5.00 for a large pizza, we may be getting pizza every Friday for lunch!  It was so nice not to cook! 

That's our Week in Review!  If you want to read about what other homeschoolers were doing this week, check out the Weekly Wrap-Up hosted by Jamie at See Jamie Blog this week while Kris is away at the Relevant Conference. 

Preparing for the Social Aspects of College

Interesting title, hmmm?  It's funny, I've been focusing on preparing my oldest daughter for the academic demands of college by trying to provide a solid, college-prep high school education for her but obviously I've failed to focus on what's really important - preparing her socially.

Thank goodness this reminder came to my daughter just last week so that we can change how we spend our days!  A not-to-be-named college student was helping out at my daughter's swim team practice.  Upon finding out that she is homeschooled, he first asked if she was going to continue to homeschool during high school.  She told him that she will continue to be homeschooled throughout high school.  He then asked, "How are you going to be prepared for college?"

Amber politely informed him that, in general, homeschoolers are prepared for and do well in college since they are used to working independently.  She told him about her college-prep courses and her focus on reading the classics.

After listening to her explanation about how she was preparing academically for college, he looked at her blankly and said, "No, I mean socially."   

I"m sure you're anxious to hear the changes we'll be making to our schedule now that we've received this little gem of wisdom.  Now that we know what's really important, we'll be dropping Biology so that my daughter can just spend that time on Facebook instead.  As well, we'll be dropping Algebra so that we can add a class I've been working on - Conversational Starters for the Hopelessly Awkward Homeschooler.  Finally, no more wasting time reading boring classics - all she really needs to read is those helpful articles about friends and boyfriends in teen magazines.   

I'm just thankful for the words of wisdom that drip so willingly from the lips of those who obviously know much more about the world and what my daughter needs to prepare for college than I do. 

Obviously, the above post must be read tongue-in-cheek.  My daughter found his response quite funny and joked about it with some of the other swimmers.  When she told me, we had a good laugh and actually got quite silly thinking of names of different classes that we could add to our day to make her more "socially" prepared for college.

Realistically, academics aside, my daughter:

• competes on a USA swim team year-round and takes part in local, state, and regional swim meets (and hopefully, a national level meet soon!)
• is active in our church youth group
• has good relationships with her siblings, parents, and relatives
• has several good friends whom she talks to and sees on a regular basis and countless acquaintances
• volunteers monthly at an assisted-care facility for the elderly
• volunteers regularly at our church to work with young children.

Preparing socially for college and life should focus on building relationships with people of all different ages and learning to feel comfortable in a wide-range of situations.  As far as I'm concerned, she's doing a wonderful job of preparing socially for the college experience...and for life outside our home. 

Week in Review - A Birthday, Independent Work, and a Day at the Doctor's

Some of our weeks are full of exciting hands-on learning that make for great pictures...and some are not.  This past week would definitely fall into the not category. 

I'll start with the least pleasant aspect of my week.  I went back and forth about sharing any information about my day at the doctor's this week but, ultimately I chose to share.  Why?  Well, I grew up in a house where everything was private, private, private.  There were lots and lots of things that you just didn't talk about.  My mom even told me never to brush my teeth in front of my husband because that's a private thing.  Really? 

As I've gotten older and have had to deal with health issues with myself and my loved ones, I just think it's best to be open about medical procedures so others are not afraid to have tests done that could be life-saving.  After some minor issues, my primary care physician ordered a colonoscopy for me.  While I certainly am not looking forward to the next one, it truly wasn't that bad.  But, given the "bodily prep" involved and the recovery time, I was not available for my children from Wednesday afternoon until Thursday night.  Thankfully, my test came back normal with no problems!  But, of course, we had to work around my medical procedure for our school week.

On a much more joyful note, our week started off with a fun trip to Dave & Buster's for Mason's 12th birthday on Sunday after church.  We enjoyed a great lunch and the boys loved playing the video games in the gigantic game room.  We had a family party for Mason last week-end so now we've completely celebrated his birthday!

We are winding down our ancient Egypt studies and will be moving into another area of ancient history next week.  We finished watching Egypt's Golden Empire (highly recommended) and made cartouches this week.

In science this week with my boys, we watched Physical Science in Action, Elements, Compounds, & Mixtures (recommended).  After much debate, I have decided to spend the entire year studying Chemistry with my boys.  In addition to Real Science 4 Kids Chemistry, I'm using three other resources that I already have:  Christian Kids Explore Chemistry, Great Science Adventures:  Discovering Atoms, Molecules, and Matter, and the TOPS Analysis Unit.

Amber hit her first real stumbling block in Algebra this week.  Rather than go forward, she spent today going back over all the lessons from this week, re-doing the problems that she missed, and then watching the solutions CD for any she missed a second time.

In her Literary Analysis class, she is REALLY enjoying The Scarlet Letter even though she does find it to be a challenging book.  I finished the book this week and we've been having so many interesting conversations about the book.  As well, we've both found so many quotes that we've enjoyed sharing with each other.  I love that I can learn right alongside my children!

We have a FULL week-end of swim meets ahead of us.  We are doing a dual meet tonight against just one other team, then we have a two day normal USA meet all day Saturday and Sunday.  With our boys swimming in the morning session, and our daughter swimming in the afternoon session, it will definitely be a long week-end!  In truth, though, my husband and I love to see them swim.

That was our Week in Review!  To read about what other homeschoolers were doing this week, check out the Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. 
 

Tag - I'm It Again! and Blog Awards

One of the things I adore about the homeschool blogging community is the companionship and support I often receive from other bloggers.  As my children have gotten older and we are no longer involved in a "physical" homeschool support group due to their school schedules and outside activities, I truly appreciate the "virtual" support that I receive from other homeschool bloggers! 

I was recently tagged by All American Family to participate in a fun meme so here are my answers:

1. Why did you start homeschooling?

Homeschooling has become such a part of who we are as a family and what we do that the "why" question is harder to answer now than it used to be, in part because I'm so seldom asked.  In a very small nutshell, my husband and I think that it is best for the children to be educated at home where we can individualize their education, be the primary influence in shaping their values, and have a family-centered lifestyle.  To read more about my thoughts on why we homeschool, read my post - Reminding Myself About Why I Homeschool My Children. 

2. How long have you been homeschooling?

We've been homeschooling since my oldest child was in first grade so this is our 8th year homeschooling.

3. Do you have pets? What kinds?

Yes!  We have a cocker spaniel named Hershey and a cat named Basil.  Mason has a guinea pig and Amber has a 50 gallon tank of freshwater fish in her room. 

4. What is your picture perfect day like?

A picture perfect day?  Well, a picture perfect day to me looks quite different depending on if the picture perfect day is:

• a day spent alone
• a day spent with just my husband
• a day spent with my husband and children (a normal day)

I'll focus on a normal day spent with my husband and children.  A picture perfect day would start with me being relaxed because I have everything all ready for the school day.  The boy's workboxes would be ready for them, and my daughter's assignment sheet would be ready for her.  I would have everything graded for the day before. 

In a perfect day, my husband would come home super-early from work and make breakfast for all of us with homemade waffles.  Of course, he never gets off THAT early, but I can dream.

The morning would go by smoothly with the children completing their independent work and working with me on various subjects.  All of my children would have good attitudes and be friendly to one another.

My husband would suggest that we go to Moe's (our favorite restaurant) for lunch.  Yea!  After a wonderful lunch of Mexican food, the children would be eager to complete our history lessons.  We would all gather in the living room for an educational video and read-aloud time.  My children would be interested and pleasant during the entire lesson.

Afterwards, we would be surprised by a call from a friend from swim team who offers to take our kids to swim team that evening.  Yea!  I would use that time to pack big snacks for the kids for after swim team and get all ready for the next day.  Then, my husband would insist on picking the kids up so I would crawl into bed early with a good book!

5. What is your favorite season?

Fall - definitely Fall.

6. What is your favorite dinner or meal to make for your family?

I prefer to make easy-to-prepare meals like tacos, spaghetti, and casseroles.  As well, I like using my crock-pot for soups and other homestyle meals.  I don't love to cook - mostly because I just don't have that much time to devote to cooking.

7. What is your favorite activity to do with your family?

I love to go on field trips with my family - science centers and living history locations are my favorite.  I also love watching movies with them.

8. What is your favorite indulgence?

Chocolate, movies, and just-for-pleasure books.
I've also been delighted to receive some sweet Blog Awards lately.  Thank you so much to all of the kind ladies who thought highly enough of my blog to grant me these awards.  Thank you!



I've been award the "One Lovely Blog Award" from All American Family and the Adventurer at Life's Adventures.

I've been awarded the "Sunshine Award" from All American Family.

I've been awarded the "Versatile Blogger" award from Joelle at Homeschooling for His Glory.  I also received this award from Say What? and Amy at Fun Days for Curious Kids.

Thank you again to all of the kind ladies who thought of me and gave me these awards!

I love reading other homeschoolers' blogs!  They are a continual source of inspiration and encouragement to me.  I have quite a few blogs in my reader that I enjoy reading when have some computer time and I'm often finding new, delightful blogs.  I try to follow-up and visit everybody who comments on my blog and have found some great blogs in that way.  Here is a list of my very, very, very favorite blogs - the ones I read almost every day.  Most are homeschooler's blogs but a few are not - all are quite family-friendly.

• The Happy Housewife
• Joyful Always
• Down To Earth
• Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers
• Art Projects for Kids
• Lynn's Kitchen Adventures
• Our Journey Westward
• See Jamie Blog
• Life As Mom
• Our Busy Homeschool
• Harmony Art Mom
• Small World At Home
• Many Little Blessings
• The Curriculum Choice
• Homeschool Classroom.
• Jimmie's Collage

Week In Review - Cracker Barrel, Art Class, and Yuck!

We've been mega-super-busy and I feel the precious days of my favorite season slipping away from me too fast.  This is definitely the time of year when I wish I could just slow down time for a few weeks and enjoy the changing colors of the leaves just a little longer! 

My parents left for the winter last Friday so we made sure to spend some time with them last week before they left.  They won't be coming home for Christmas this year so we won't be seeing them until next May.  The kids and I went out to lunch with my mom to Cracker Barrel as a special treat before she left.  Then, my dad surprised me and invited us all out to dinner last Thursday night.  Honestly, I simply can't remember my father EVER inviting us out to dinner so I was very surprised.  We went to Cracker Barrel again (one of my favorite restaurants) and enjoyed a good dinner together.

As usual, we've been busy with swim team practice, youth group once a week for the older two children, and bowling league on Saturday mornings for the boys.  Over the past three weeks, all three of the children and I have had our well-child visits at the doctor (actually mine was a yearly physical).  Adding more craziness to our schedule, my boys started a weekly art class at a local college.  So far, they really like it, particularly my very artsy Mason.  The class meets through the first part of December.  Sadly, I have no pictures to show and I probably won't until their art show in December. 

Regarding the children's schoolwork, all three of them have been working diligently with their independent work and getting a lot accomplished. 

• Algebra I is starting to get a bit more difficult for Amber and she is needing to spend a chunk of each day working through her lesson.  She's also been getting out the Solutions CDs regularly for the first time this school year.  Thankfully, she is still doing well in the course. 
• Amber was quite happy to receive an A on the Module 4 test in Biology!  She is starting to learn how to best study the information so that she can remember it which will be a valuable skill well beyond the Biology course.  She cracks me up with her vocabulary terms written on her bathroom mirror!
• My boys are currently working on a three paragraph report on ancient Egypt in their Ancient History Writing Lessons program from IEW.  I'm so thrilled with this program.  My youngest, Duncan, is so very proud of his writing.
• We're still studying ancient Egypt in history.  I highly recommend Egypt's Golden Empire.  We've been working our way through this video (it's quite long) in segments and have found it very well-done and quite interesting.
• Amber and I both reading The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne right now and are both enjoying it quite a bit.  Whenever one of us is reading it, we always have to seek the other out to share a particularly delightful quote.  I can't believe that this is my first reading of this classic book!

On the fun, hands-on side, the boys have been working with a very, very fun product as part of their Chemistry lessons - Yuck! from Buckets-O-Fun.  I was so thrilled to receive the Yuck! samples as a review item for TOS Review Crew.  The boys have been investigating and playing with Sticky Yuck -

Snowy Yuck -

Saucy Yuck -
 
Our Chunky Yuck is still absorbing water.  I'll be posting more about our experiences with Yuck! in an upcoming review.  Yuck! was a big hit with my boys and made Chemistry lessons this week and last a lot more fun!

We also finally had a normal art class this Friday.  The class was on watercolors and was a structured, techniques class in which our video art teacher led the children step-by-step through the project.  I had to leave for a doctor's appointment before they were completely finished so I was quite happy to see my daughter's lovely watercolor painting when I returned home.

Without my guiding influence, my boys got a bit silly and added some desert elements to their pictures.  Other than the desert elements which don't really fit, I like their paintings as well.  Sigh.

That was our two Weeks in Review!  If you want to read about what other homeschoolers have been doing this week, check out the Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.