Halloween Party!

This afternoon we headed out to a Halloween Party at the park. Other then the fact that it was a bit chilly and windy the kids had a great time. What is better then an afternoon spent with friends, game play, and trunk or treating?

Here they are with a couple of their best buds.

One of the games was "The Mummy Wrap". Little Miss had a great time wrapping up her brother!

Nature Study

Today was all about nature. We took a 3.5 mile hike on Pyramid Mountain with some friends. The hike was led by our favorite guide-Douglas. He taught us a few things about the trees and autumn.

Here the kids are getting up close and personal with Witch Hazel. It blooms in autumn with beautiful yellow flowers.

Here is Douglas talking about the changes the leaves go through as the tree prepares for the upcoming winter drought.

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it does it make a sound? The tree fell over due to a weak root system. There are a lot of rocks on the mountain.

Lunch! Beautiful spot by the river.

Evidence of beaver activity. Why do beavers build dams? When you eat the inside of trees and you are not that great on the land it is better to flood the area so it is easier to get to your food supply and more difficult for a predator to get you.

About half way through the hike. We are 800 feet above sea level. The view was lovely.

We made it to Tripod Rock! Woo Hoo! One day that rock will fall. The 3 little rocks supporting it are showing evidence of ongoing erosion. Water freezes in the cracks and expands them.



There was a little more uphill climbing from here but then we made it to the downward part of our journey. One part was pretty steep but the kids were troopers. I think I was more afraid of falling.

It was a great day. The weather was warm. We observed some woodpeckers and saw a hawk or two. One may have been a turkey vulture. Learned a bit about the shapes of leaves affecting the way the leaf falls to the ground. Plus, plenty of fresh air and exercise.

Independent Reading

Little Miss decided that the best place to do her reading was in front of the fire. Smart girl.

Another week completed

Another crazy week of school and swim practice is behind us. I think the highlight of today will be the cozy fire roaring in the fireplace. After a week of crisp temperatures the house is feeling a little cool. I am determined not to turn on the heat yet. A nice fire is the way to go.

Little Miss M-Fractions. Grammar-review of indirect and direct quotations. History-The Dutch Revolt. Science-Learning about frogs.

Mister B-Math-decimals. Grammar-verb phrases and linking verbs. History-Outline of France -Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu.

For both-review of Map terminology-longitude and latitude, the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, the equator, prime meridian, eastern and western hemispheres.

Moving along

We are chugging away at another week. Nothing spectacular to report-just the usual roundup of subjects and running around.

Mister B: Math-Today he started decimals! Grammar-continued with different types of pronouns. History-Summary of the 30 Years War. He really hates writing summaries and I make him do it anyway. My feeling is he is in 7th grade. One day he will be in college or working at a job filled with mind numbing reports. If he masters the skill now it will be second nature and easier to do then. Science-Conducted his own experiment Which will freeze faster-milk or water. Wrote his conclusions. Discussed if the experiment warranted a follow up and what equipment would be helpful if he was going to do the experiment again.

Little Miss M: Math-Cubic measurements and long division review. Grammar-Direct and indirect quotes. History-The 30 Years War (should I be concerned about her enthusiasm for defenestration?" Science-we are off to the library today to do some research on frogs and pollution.

Yesterday the kids had gym class. It was obstacle course day. I always love that one. Stepping through the ladder, jumping over the mountain, over hurdles, putting a tennis ball under or on top of cones in numerical order, pulling yourself on a scooter using hand over hand on a rope, leaping through hoops, some push ups, and a crash into a giant mat.

Good times, good times.

The week is flying by.....

Goodness, I can not believe it is Thursday already. This week has been flying.

Tuesday was a typical school day. Math, Grammar, Literature, Science, Spanish, and History.

Wednesday we had discussion group. Everyone did a short presentation on what they did over the summer or something they did recently that they found interesting. Mister B talked about being on the summer swim team and Little Miss talked about the Governor's mansion at Colonial Williamsburg. She ended up with a bit of stage fright and at the last minute did not want to get up and present. In the end she gave her presentation from her chair. The important thing is that she did it.

Today, we have had the typical school day.
Mister B-Math-exponents, review of place value and fractions. Grammar-Linking Verbs and Action Verbs. Literature-He started reading Tom Sawyer and answering comprehension questions. History-The 30 Year War and some map work. Vocabulary review of mono and uni words. Science-created his own experiment to see which will freeze quicker-water or milk.

Little Miss M-Math-Cubic Units. Grammar-run on sentences. History-Review of the Holy Roman Empire and The Conquistador's stealing (Oops, I mean their claiming of the gold and silver for Spain). Critical Thinking-How to tell the difference between a definition and an example. Vocabulary-Equ and Pend words.

Tomorrow will be a mostly social day. We will be meeting fellow homeschoolers at Panera for our monthly game day. The kids play games and the parents get to talk. In the afternoon Little Miss is having some friends over to our house for girl talk and games.

Somewhere in all of this I will be fitting in Geography.

Doggie Naturals

I am going to toot my own horn for a moment and take this space to tell you about the business I started so I can help support my family and continue to homeschool.

A friend and I started www.doggienaturals.com. Fresh baked all natural dog treats. We mill the flour-whole wheat or barley. Use all natural and organic ingredients-unsweetened applesauce, no sugar added peanut butter, hormone and antibiotic free cheese, and eggs from a local poultry farm.

Why all natural dog treats? When we rescued our dog, Noble, I started researching food options. I discovered that dog food and treats are chock full of all kinds of preservatives and byproducts that I won't feed to my children. I thought to myself "If I won't feed these things to my children surely my pet deserves the same consideration." I started baking treats for my pup. My friends started asking for treats for their pups. An idea was born.

Thank you for reading about my little cottage business. Please stop by the website and let me know what you think.

Another Monday Completed

I have survived another Monday. This one was a light academic day because I needed to take Little Miss dress shopping and it is Columbus Day. The day we discuss how Christopher Columbus really did not discover America. Here are a couple of reasons my kiddos like to point out.
1. You can't really discover a land that is already occupied by people. He did discover a new trade route for Europe but he did not discover America. The Vikings were here before Columbus. You don't see a Lief Erickson day.
2. The man was lost. The reason Native Americans were called Indians for so long was because the man thought he was in India.

After torturing myself at the mall (Little Miss loved it-I am ready to collapse) we rushed home to pick up Mister B and head off to gym class. They had a great time. Some warm up exercises, some sort of baseball game, some beach ball volleyball, class was over before we knew it.

Then the mad rush to swim practice. Today Mister B did the dry land workout before leaping into the pool. He ran a mile, did some push-ups, some sit-ups, squats, and more. Then he went right in the pool. Breast Stroke, Broken IM, Butterfly. He is one tired boy.

Wow, another update this week

I know, I do not normally update everyday, but I felt the need to upload these photos of the kids working on Geography. We have been doing an overview of the continents and maps and globes.

Today, they made Pangea puzzles. In case you don't know-Scientist believe that when the continents were formed, they were all together in one big continent, called Pangea. I saw a photo op. Here is Mister B working on outlining the continents.

Here is Little Miss labeling her continents.

The Pangea Puzzles were fun to make. The kids had fun gluing and I had fun watching them piece the continents together.




Please ignore the incredibly messy table.

Crazy Day

Today I felt like a ping pong ball. Oh, the day started off typical. Math, grammar, history, critical thinking. Then the "Oh, look at the time" mad rush to Philosophy class. It would not have been quite the mad rush if I had not had a 15 minute try to get around the traffic because of all the fire trucks at Pathmark.

We finally got around the traffic. Even though we were 10 minutes late for philosophy they had not started yet. Whew. While the kids were being deep thinkers us moms discussed the blog mompetition and how we all know moms like that. Then we discussed how even amongst homeschoolers there is competition and constant worry about if you are doing enough, not enough, they seem to be doing something cooler then me maybe I should do that, and so on. So easy to fall into the competition trap.

Once philosophy ended there was the mad dash to drop Mister B off at the Cantor and get Little Miss to swim practice. Then leave Little Miss there and pick up Mister B to bring him to his swim practice. Finally, home. Showers for everyone, read a chapter of Hoot and go to bed. Well, at least the kids got off to bed.

Lesson update:
Little Miss M: Math-Long Division. Now she is working on those really big numbers such as 186,950 divided by 156. Grammar-Different Types of Sentences. Critical Thinking-Fact or Opinion. History-The Great Fire of London and The Plague. Science-Frogs and Pollution. Spanish-Numbers 1-12.

Mister B: Math-Exponents and some fraction review. Grammar-Different types of pronouns. Critical Thinking-how to identify is someone is thinking critically. History-The Divine Right of Kings and the people's reaction to it. The role of Parliament. The Lord Protectorate-Oliver Cromwell. Literature-How to rewrite in your own words and review of terminology-rising action, climax, falling action, resolution. Spanish-numbers 1-12.

Chuckle

This just made me laugh. Why I can't make mom friends.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSEPA6TIgzc

Mondays!

A new week. A new Monday. Another hectic day in the life. Today got off to a late start. After a weekend of social enjoyment everyone slept in this morning. This felt really good until I realized "Oh, in addition to all of our school work, we have to go to the library, the post office, and the sporting goods store for new goggles all before gym class at 2:30". Because after gym class Mister B has his Bar Mitzvah lessons and then we have to run to swim practice.

Needless to say- a crazy morning. The kids did get through math, grammar, history, and Spanish. Little Miss even fit in a critical thinking exercise. The rest of the afternoon was a mad dash of activity.

Gym class was all about those little scooter things. They were on their bellies, on their knees, using just their arms, using just their legs, working in teams, having races, individual challenges (who can get closest to the line without going over). Excellent core muscle workout today.

After all of the running around today I am tired. The kids seem ready to keep going. I am ready to go to sleep now.