Week In Review - Frog Dissection, Bird Feeder, and a New Coffee Quilt

Another week has sped past me and I find myself just watching it go speeding past!  Since my two older children have been on break from swimming, I've been spending so much time LIVING my life that I've had very little time to WRITE about it!

Our schedule normally revolves around swim team practice, but with a 3 week break from swimming practice, I've been spending my usual solitary productive evening hours with my children.  We've been going shopping, playing Jeopardy on our Wii, talking by the fire, and watching movies.  Next week, though, swim team practice begins again and we will be back to our "normal" schedule.  Spending so much down time with my children has been fabulous, though!

While my daughter and I were out running errands and shopping one evening, we treated ourselves to a dinner out at Cracker Barrel (one of my favorite restaurants).  On the way out, I saw a delightful small quilt and decided that I must have it for our kitchen.  When I discovered it was 25% off, the deal was sealed!  I LOVE my new, adorable "coffee quilt."

While my new quilt was one of the highlights of my week last week, we had some highlights in our homeschool as well.  Amber completed her FINAL dissection for Biology.  Yeah!

Yes, Amber dissected  female frog FULL of eggs!   Overall, Amber has found the dissections to be very interesting and  informative.

Biology has been a wonderful course, a TON of work, and Amber can definitely see the end in sight now.  She will take the test over Module 13 next week and than she just has 3 modules left!

We are in our next-to-last week of studying ancient Greece.  Then, we will move on to ancient Rome for the remainder of the school year.  We watched a very good video about Alexander the Great, National Geographic - Beyond the Movie - Alexander.

Duncan made a bird feeder from recycled materials in Science last week.  I was amazed by how much he enjoyed the small project and how interested he has been in watching to see if birds are visiting his bird feeder!

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

Weeks in Review - Gold Champs, Pure Freedom Rally, and a Swimming Break!

Time is definitely rushing past me as we hurtle towards the end of the 2010-2011 school year!  The past two weeks have been filled with some exciting events, most notably the end-of-short-course-season Gold Championships.

My husband and I spent over 20 hours at the Gold Champs pool last week-end watching Amber and Mason swim!  We are so proud of them - first for qualifying for Gold Champs - and second for making finals in almost all of their events!

Amber at the beginning of her 100 Backstroke race.

Gold Champs are held in a preliminaries/finals format.  The top 10 times in each event compete in evening finals after the morning preliminary swims.  Mason made finals in all 6 of his events!  Amber made finals in 4 out of 5 of her events!

Mason swimming the 50 Breast portion of his 200 Individual Medley.

Even more exciting, at finals, Amber placed second in the 100 Fly, and third in the 100 Free, 50 Free, and 100 Back, taking home medals in all of her events.

Mason did extremely well at finals as well, taking home 5th place medals in the 100 Fly, 50 Fly, and 50 Free. He placed 6th in the 50 Back and 200 IM; and 8th place in the 200 Free, taking home ribbons in those events.

Most amazing of all is that my children are now on a 2 1/2 week break from swimming!!!!!  Since my children started in USA swimming over 3 years ago, we've NEVER had a break.  But, our new swim team takes a few small breaks during the course of the year.  So, for the first time in years, Amber and Mason are on a swimming break.  Amber and Mason both feel like they just have so much time on their hands without the 2 1/2 hour practices (or more for Amber) each day!  BUT, Amber is already starting to miss being in the water...

Last week, my daughter and I attended the Pure Freedom Rally at the main campus of our church.  Most of the teenage girls from Amber's youth group attended as well with their mothers.  It was an amazing night!  Dannah Gresh was the primary speaker for the evening and she spoke about the importance and benefits of living in purity.  In between the teaching times, we enjoyed games and worship music.  Amber and I both enjoyed the night and Amber left even more dedicated to her commitment to purity.  If the Pure Freedom Rally comes to a church near you, I highly recommend attending this moving and fun event with your teenage daughters.

We've also been getting schoolwork done in between all of our other activities!  Here are a few highlights from our homeschool:

• Mason finished Level A of the Phonetic Zoo in Spelling.  He will start Level B tomorrow.  Congratulations Mason!
• Amber earned another A on her Module 12 test in Biology.  Congrats to Amber!  Now, she's down to just FOUR MORE MODULES!  Yahoo!  On Friday, she will complete her last dissection of the course, a frog dissection.
• We are studying ancient Greece in history.  As part of our studies, we watched an incredible video from the History Channel, Last Stand of the 300:  The Legendary Battle at Thermopylae.  I highly recommend this video for older children.  

We have some exciting plans for next week.  We'll all be attending the Midwest Homeschool Convention.  While I'm most looking forward to all of the wonderful seminars, my children are looking forward to seeing Tim Hawkins.  I've already purchased all of our curriculum for next year so I'm going to try to stay away from the Vendor's Hall.....for the most part.  

That was our Weeks in Review!  To read about what other homeschool bloggers have been doing, check out the Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Helpful Homeschool Hint: Small Rewards for Children

My oldest child went to a private Christian school for kindergarten.  We started homeschooling at the beginning of her first grade year and have homeschooled all of our children ever since.  I spent a lot of time at my daughter's school all those years ago and I particularly noticed how much the children enjoyed the little rewards that were included in their school days.  While small rewards are particularly appreciated by young children, I have found that even my 8th grade daughter still enjoys small rewards.

Knowing the importance of small rewards to motivate and encourage, I look for ways to celebrate and reward my children's accomplishments in school.  I also look for small ways to make their school days more fun and happy.  To be more specific, here are some examples of ways in which I incorporate small rewards into my children's school days.

I've had to replace a few workboxes over the past two years that we've been using them.  Rather than use plain numbers, when a workbox has needed replaced, I have picked out fun numbers that make my boys smile.  

We hang up the spelling cards in our schoolroom for each unit that my children pass in their spelling programs to track and celebrate their progress.

I always keep a box of stickers handy when grading schoolwork.  Stickers are a very inexpensive way to say, "Great Job!"

Using mini books to create a lapbook-style study guide for Biology has been an enjoyable way for my daughter to study.  While simply answering the study guide questions on plain sheets of white paper would have had the same content, the colorful mini books are simply more fun for my scrapbook-loving daughter.  She's so proud of her Biology notebook!

Breaking up the school day into different ways of learning is rewarding and motivating to my children.  During their school day they do a wide variety of educational activities including learning activities on the computer, read-aloud time, video instruction, playing games, workbook activities, and reading.

Even if there are no hands-on activities scheduled for the day, all of my children usually do some type of handicraft during our read-aloud time.

Small rewards during the school day can take many forms.  Surprise donuts in the morning, a hot cup of tea for a tea-loving teenager, or even a small trinket placed in a workbox for excellent work can make a child feel special and encouraged for the school day.

I'm always on the look-out for ways to encourage and motivate my children.  Do you have any small rewards that you incorporate into your school days?  

To read other Helpful Homeschool Hints, visit Angie at Many Little Blessings.    

What's Going On in My Reading Life?

Once again this year I'm participating in my local library's 50 Book Challenge.  I finished the challenge in 2009 with a total of 68 books and in 2010 with a total of 56 books.  

This year, in addition to participating in my local library's 50 Book Challenge, I'm also participating in  Booking It at LifeasMOM.  While I didn't read the February book, Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, I did write a review of the January selection, The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. 

So far this year I've read a total of 13 books!  Since my last What's Going On in My Reading Life post, I've read 7 more books which are listed below.

• The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin  ****
• Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien  *****  My children and I absolutely loved this read-aloud book.  It truly is a delight and a treasure and I can't recommend it highly enough.
• Dragon Warrior by Janet Chapman *****  I adore Janet Chapman - she's my very favorite romance author.  This was the second book in the Moonlight Warrior series.
• Sprinkle With Murder by Jenn McKinlay - ****  This is the first book in the Cupcake Bakery Mystery series.  If you enjoy cozy-mysteries and you like cupcakes, this book is definitely a winner.
• Great Ancient China Projects You Can Build Yourself by Lance Kramer ***  This was a non-fiction read-aloud for history.
• Animal Farm by George Orwell  *****  I read this book for the first time since I had assigned it to my teenage daughter.  Wonderful, wonderful book but definitely quite dark and disturbing.  The horrific treatment of hardworking Boxer will never leave my memory.
• Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen  *****  Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous!  I could not have enjoyed this book more.  Sense and Sensibility has long been my very favorite movie so it was a delight to finally read the book.

As usual, I have several books that I'm reading at once.  What am I reading?

• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson - I only have a few chapters left to read in this classic book.  Amber has already finished it.  I am dragging my heels a bit on this one.  The immense amount of ship-related terminology has been an obstacle to my enjoyment of the book.  
• Homeschooling High School:  Planning Ahead for College Admission by Jeanne Gowen Dennis - I am still reading this book as my daughter edges closer and closer to full-blown high school at home.  She is taking two high school courses in 8th grade this year so we're both getting our feet wet.
• Clutter Rehab by Laura Wittman - I am just starting this book and am looking forward to reading more.  I've been very motivated by Laura's 52 Weeks of Organizing Challenge and have been participating each week.
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl - This is our current read-aloud book.  I LOVE this book!
• Buttercream Bump-Off by Jenn McKinlay - This is the second book in the Cupcake Bakery mystery series.  This is an enjoyable book particularly if you like cozy mysteries and cupcakes.
• Peace Child by Don Richardson - This is one of the books Amber will be reading for history next year.  I'm trying to get an early start on her history reading for next year as I usually read everything she reads so we can talk about it.  So far, this is a very powerful missionary story.

So, have you read anything great so far this year?  I'm always interested to hear book suggestions!

Photo courtesy of Michelle Meiklejohn at www.freedigitalphotos.net.  

Weeks in Review - Grand Prix, Ancient Greece, and A Dead Fish

Ryan Lochte in Lane 3 and Michael Phelps in Lane 4 at the Grand Prix Meet in Indianapolis.

We were at an out-of-state swim meet last week so this is my two weeks in review.  Last week, we attended the Grand Prix in Indianapolis.  Amber made the time cut in the 50 Free to attend and was able to swim two bonus events as well.  The Grand Prix was AMAZING!  This was the fastest and biggest swim meet she has attended so far.  The swim meet was such an incredible experience for Amber - she was thrilled to just be on deck and compete with her swimming heroes.  She had so many exciting experiences there, including warming down in the same lane with Michael Phelps.

She met many Olympians and World Champions at the meet and the majority of them were incredibly friendly and quickly agreed to taking a picture with her.  Amber now has pictures of herself with Ryan Lochte (below), Matt Grevers, Missy Franklin, Jason Lezak, and Michael Phelps.

She attended the meet with three of her teammates and they all had a wonderful time.  In addition to the fabulous experience of just attending the meet, Amber swam well with a personal best time in the 100 Butterfly which set a new team record on her swim team.  One thing's for sure - she's definitely fired-up for the Short Course Gold Championships this week-end!   

Both Mason and Amber will be attending Gold Champs this week-end.  Mason is particularly proud to be attending as he did not achieve the time cuts to attend last year and attended Silver Champs.  

For the first time EVER since our children have been in USA swimming, we'll have a 2 1/2 week break after champs!  Our new swim team has a break after champs until the end of March.  We are looking forward to a lot of quiet evenings at home, sewing, playing games, and watching movies!  I'm not sure how my two chlorine addicts will handle being out of the pool for that long but I'll enjoy the down time!

In addition to swimming, we've also been having school!  We've started studying ancient Greece in history and I've been so happy that my children remember so much of what we studied last year when we did a unit study on ancient Greek Mythology and ancient Greece.  

For our read-aloud, we've been reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and we absolutely love it!  I can't recommend this read-aloud highly enough - it's absolutely charming and delightfully funny.  I've found myself laughing so hard at times that I couldn't continue reading!  

We are definitely at that time of the school year when my children can see an ending point for some of their subjects on the horizon.  Both Mason and Duncan are nearing the end of their math programs.  Amber is closing in on her grammar program.  

Amber is particularly happy to see an end in sight for Biology.  She is on Module 12 out of 16 now.  Overall, she has enjoyed the course but it has been a LOT of work for her.  Today, we got together with my dear homeschooling friend so her son and Amber could dissect their fish together.  Only one more dissection to go!

All subjects will not be completed, though, before our 9 week summer break and all three of my children will have some schoolwork over the summer - some of it being done by choice.  Amber has decided to just go ahead and start Algebra 2 when she finishes Algebra and to continue working on it at least 2-3 times a week over the summer to keep in fresh in her mind.  

That was our Weeks in Review!  To read about what other homeschool bloggers were doing this week, visit the Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Helpful Homeschool Hint: Make Homeschooling As Convenient As Possible

I just adore Angie's weekly Thursday link-up - Helpful Homeschool Hints!  This week, my Helpful Homeschool Hint is to make homeschooling as convenient as possible.  

What do I mean by that?  For me it means that I am continually on the look-out for small changes I can make in my own home to make moving through our school day easier and more convenient for all of my children (and me).  

While I like to keep all of our homeschooling materials in our school room, I have found that keeping some items exactly where they are used is most convenient for my children and me.

• Mason (6th) and Duncan (4th) both have typing practice 3 times a week.  Since they both completed their typing course, they can choose from any typing activities on the typing program.  Their assignment is 15 minutes of typing practice 3 times a week so a timer is very helpful right by the computer.  For over a year, they would set the timer in the kitchen and then run back to type at the computer in my room.  Then, I finally purchased an inexpensive timer to keep by the computer.

• My boys each have a one-on-one reading lesson with me each day.  We always meet at a table in the living room, therefore, I keep all of our reading textbooks in a basket which is very close to the table.

• Mason listens and reads along to books on tape as part of his daily schoolwork.  I keep the headphones and CD player right by the couch in the school room.  In cold weather, I also keep a blanket there to snuggle up in while listening to books!    

• All three of my children use the Institute for Excellence in Writing Spelling Program, The Phonetic Zoo. I keep the CDs and bound copies of the daily testing sheets for each of my children in a basket right next to the CD player.  I made copies of the daily testing sheets for each of my children at the beginning of the school year and had them bound at Staples.  Therefore, they don't need to number a blank sheet of paper each day and write the required information at the top - they just grab their book, headphones, and CD player and they're reading to do their spelling lesson.

• I keep all of our reference books on one small bookcase.  This well-stocked reference shelf allows my children to be more independent in their school work.  

• Lastly, I love workboxes for the structure and organization they add to Duncan and Mason's schoolwork each day.  We've been using workboxes every school day for the past two years and I fully plan to continue using them next school year.  I may even implement a modified workbox system for my high schooler.  

What small (and large) changes have you made in your home to make your homeschooling days more easy and convenient?

Weekly Menu Plan

After being out of the state most of last week at the Grand Prix USA swim meet to watch my daughter swim, I'm looking forward to a quiet week of homemade meals at home.  Gold Champs is this coming week-end so I have lots of carbs on the menu for my two swimmers!  I am trying one new meal this week, Creamy Chicken Enchiladas.

• Monday - Lasagna, Salad, Broccoli, Garlic Bread
• Tuesday - Homestyle Chicken and Noodles  and Mashed Potatoes
• Wednesday - Pot Roast, Carrots, and Onions in the Crock-Pot, Baked Potatoes, Biscuits
• Thursday - Chicken in the Crock-Pot, Green Beans, Cheesy Potatoes, Biscuits
• Friday - Creamy Chicken Enchiladas and Taco Bar
• Saturday - Gold Champs - Eating out at Zoup
• Sunday - Gold Champs - Eating out at Subway.

To read what hundreds of bloggers will be making in their kitchens this week, visit Menu Plan Monday at Org Junkie.

February Movies

Another month has flown by!  In February, I enjoyed a few wonderful movies but several of the movies that I watched were quite disappointing.  After hearing all of the hub-bub about The Social Network, my teenage daughter and I were both looking forward to seeing it.  While I know it has received great reviews from the critics, my daughter and I just said, "YUCK!"  We felt as if there was nobody to like in the movie and the whole thing just left us with a bad feeling.  Of course, that is just our opinion but that is what these monthly movie posts are about - my opinion on the movies that I have seen!

February Movies

• Love's Long Journey  **** (I LOVE these movies and highly recommend watching them in order.  They are wholesome family viewing appropriate for older children.) 
• Love's Enduring Promise ****
• The Secret of NIMH * (After reading The Rats of NIMH and absolutely loving it, my children and I decided to watch the movie.  What a HUGE disappointment!  The movie is so little like the enchanting book.  We might have liked the movie better if we were not expecting the movie to be like the book.)
• Left Behind The Movie *** (I'm re-reading this series this year and watching the movies as I read the books.  I adore the books and the movies.)
• The Social Network **
• Disney Oceans ***
• Die Hard *****
• Drop Dead Diva Season 1  **** (I so enjoyed watching the first season of this show while folding laundry and working on mindless projects!  This is definitely a tv series I will watch again when the second season comes out on DVD.)

So, do you have any movies to recommend this month?  I'm always open to suggestions for good movies!

Photo courtesy of www.freedigitalphotos.net.  The movie theater image was created by Salvatore Vuono.