All About The Girl…

photo courtesy www.pachd.com

Big day for Nicole yesterday, she had a field trip to The White House and The Smithsonian.  She has been looking forward to this trip for weeks now, I don’t think it even bothered her to wake up in the wee hours of the morning.  They went in style too, no big yellow school bus, they had a charter bus, WOW!

Nicole said she really enjoyed the trip, her favorite room at The White House was The Great Ball Room.  The class had hoped to see the President or First Lady like the group from last year but that wasn’t to be the case this year.

Another of her cool things was listening to one of the parents who chaperoned, apparently he has a passion for history and was giving the scholars a interesting history “lesson”.  Nicole said, “He was telling us about history, and he’s not even a teacher!”  Who says a child can only learn sitting in at a desk in a classroom? LOL

Nicole had a band concert last Thursday, this was a county wide concert of the elementary, middle and high school band students, and way cool for her because she got to perform at the high school, her biggest venue to date!

The Purple Princess is doing well in school, she made the honor roll this last grading period, and honorable mention the first grading period.  That’s the latest news on the girl!  

Have a great evening, I'm off to watch the Wizards basketball game.  See ya!

Changes...

We withdrew Gene from public school on January 19. Gene has been struggling with focusing in class and the middle school work load from the beginning of the school year, and add in behavioral issues – just not a good fit.

I decided to go with BJU Press Distance Leaning/online for Gene, and I think this will be a good fit for us. Our materials arrived Tuesday and we started rolling on Wednesday, we didn't do all the subjects so that we could ease into this new program. I'll keep you posted on his progress.


Be blessed and have a great weekend.
 
ReBecca

Spelling Bee

Today was the Spelling Bee at Nicole elementary school; she was really excited this morning and didn’t seem the least bit nervous. There we 20 kids participating in the Bee - my heart went out to one boy who was painfully shy when the time came for each participant to walk up to the microphone to state their name and grade, he looked as if he might pass out, and it took him several minutes to build up enough courage just to say his first name (you could barely hear him), then there was another long pause prior to his saying his last night, and then he finally got out his grade – bless his heart.



Nicole spoke into the microphone like a pro (that public speaking class last year paid off!) She had great diction, and seemed comfortable. The first word to stump one of the students was corduroy; don’t ask me why I remember that, maybe because I was wearing cords.


Nicole made it through several rounds before the dreaded word neutralize, shattered her plans. She is so much like her Daddy… “You all must be going for second place, because I’ve got first all hemmed up”, that’s a paraphrase from the great Larry Bird, but it is a perfect fit for Eric and Nicole!


She did manage to make it off the stage and walk over to me BEFORE the tears over took her. She collapsed on my lap and had a good cry, but quickly pulled herself together and watched the rest of the Bee. I was so proud of her, being 1 of 20 from the entire school to make it to this round of the Spelling Bee, what an accomplishment! Way to go Nicole!!!


When there were only two students left things became very interesting, in one round they both missed the word and it went back in forth with the painfully shy boy and another boy. In the end the shy boy misspelled his word, the other boy was able to spell it correctly, plus his next word and was declared the winner! It was great fun watching the whole process.

TTFN!ReBecca

Bees & Birds

Nicole was in her grade level Spelling Bee at her school, she was suppose to be a alternate, but was able to take part in the Bee. Today she brought home a letter from the school saying she has earned a spot in the school Spelling Bee! Way to go Nicole. The Spelling Bee will be Friday, so be in prayer for her success.


Congratulations Purple Princess!


On another note, here are some pictures that I took recently of our little feathered friends. My favorite shot is the second one of the Robin, but I just love the very vocal Cardinals.

Enjoy!

Band Members

My kiddos are making a smooth transition to public school, which is a huge answer to prayer! Both are proud members of the band at their schools, Gene is learning to play the trumpet, his class meets daily and Nicole is learning to play the flute, her class meets weekly, or at least I think that will be the schedule - they just met for the first time on Tuesday.

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for my kiddos - first day of public school, first day of riding a school bus, well first day for Gene anyway - Nicole missed her bus, the driver was WAY early, but she did get to ride the school bus home. Both kids enjoyed their first day, came home all smiles and full of chatter about this and that.

Here is Nicole after she got off the bus, she had quite an entourage waiting for her, three of the neighbor kids, Gene and me! All the kids (and Mom) were so excited to see Nicole and hear about her day, it was so cute.

I did manage to get a picture of Gene before we left to walk to the bus stop, I had planned to take pictures of him getting on the bus, but didn't think he would appreciate the "Mommy Moment" so decided just to take his picture before we left the house.


Back to School Survival Bag

I made the kids a Back to School Survival bag, click here to see where I got the cool idea. The picture above is all the loot for the bag, I had the hardest time finding those fruit roll ups and just could not find Hersey's Hugs, so I used Hersey's Kisses instead. The bag is filled with the treats and a letter from to encourage them to do their best at school and to always remember the Lord is with them. Here is list of the things I put in my bags.

Back to School Survival Guide

Fruit by the foot - Put your best foot forward

Pencils - We think you are sharp!

A rock with the word prayer written on with a simple sharpie

A lollipop - to remind you to stick to the scriptures to help you "lick" any obstacles this year

Eraser - to remind you you can start each new day with a clean slate

Rubber band - Stretch your mind this year

paper clips - You have all the tools to hold it together

Hershey Kiss - Just some extra kissess when you need them

Smarties - Smarties for the smartie

Tootsie Roll - to remind you to roll with the punches this year

Sponge - to remind you to soak it all in this year

Almond Joy candy bar - We hope this year brings you great joy


I printed out the cards using business cards on the computer, and used both glue dots and squares to adhere the loot to the business cards. The next time I do one of these I will skip the cards all together and just add the list/meaning to the body of the letter. Of course the bags were a big hit with Gene and Nicole, yeah - all my hard work paid off!

It Snowed!

Yesterday we had our first snow! I was beginning to think that we would not get any snow this winter but finally it came and talk about beautiful! Of course we didn't get just snow, had to have that nasty ice in the mix, so many accidents occurred yesterday.


The kids didn't go out and play in the snow yesterday, they were not feeling well. We all have been sick. I took the children to the doctor Monday because they have this dry cough that would not go away. The doctor said all sound and looks well, just a dry cough and recommended some over-the-counter cough syrup, and told me to also try giving them honey to coat the throat. Hopefully this thing will run its course and my home will be a healthy once again.

We are back in the groove of school after our wonderful three week break for Christmas and New Year. Our first week back we started our Tapestry of Grace, Unit 2, and thankfully we have had a pretty light schedule for the first three weeks.

Gene is two weeks away from completing his Teaching Textbooks Math 7, once he is finished with that he will start Pre-Algebra. I tell you I love, love, love this curriculum! It has turned my struggling in math child who would take for EVER to complete his math assignments, and barely made a C, to one who enjoys and is confident in math and is now a A/B student. Now, he did have a couple of weeks were his grades dropped dramatically, I think he was down in the basement playing instead of working but thankfully he has come to himself and is back making excellent grades in math!

The kids have started taking a Beginning Stings class, and are learning how to play the viola. We had major drama getting an instrument, they both wanted to play guitar, but the music stores do not rent guitars, and Eric and I didn't want to invest that much money on two guitars not sure if they would want to continue with the lessons and practice. The second choice was the violin, but we couldn't find their size to rent, so our third option was the viola and the third try was a winner. If you are not familiar with a viola it looks like a violin, only larger, I will post pictures later.

They are enjoying the music class, and are really into the learning process, and remember what the instructor tells them, which is always a good thing, and practice about 30 minutes each day.

As you can see from the pictures, we have many bird come to our feeders yesterday. We normally have five doves visit, but yesterday I counted 11 all gathered under the feeders! I just saw a beautiful male cardinal, he was so lovely with his bright feathers against the white snow - I missed the shot because my camera batteries are charging up (argh!).


I'm off to get a cup of tea, hope you enjoy the pictures of our feathered friends. I do get a kick out of watching them! Be blessed.

Planning, Planning, Planning

I have been busy, busy, busy putting the final touches on our resources for the new school year. The UPS man should be coming to my house several times over the next couple of weeks. Of course I use the public library as much as possible and yesterday we had two canvas bags full of books - some are for school, some are just for pleasure. Here is what will be using:

Math:
Teaching Textbooks 7
Teaching Textbooks 5

English/Grammar:
Easy Grammar Plus and Daily GRAMS
Bob Jones English 5

Spelling:
Spelling Power

Science:
Christian Kids Explore Biology (will tweak for Gene)

History, Literature, Arts & Activities, Worldview, Geography:
Tapestry of Grace, Year 2: Between Ancient and Modern

Writing:
Institute for Excellence in Writing

Also:

Latina Christiana

Bible Study Guide for all Ages

Gene and Nicole will participate in a Public Speaking class this year, for their first class the instructor has asked them to prepare something to recite. Gene selected Psalms 23 and Nicole Psalms 100 each already know the verses, but spent some time this morning practicing, tomorrow I will dust off the video recorder and record them as they practice (this should be fun!).

Our Week

This past Wednesday we had our co-op state history class, the kids really have enjoyed the class and the teacher has been very through. I find myself saying, "Really, I didn't know that"! We missed a couple of classes and she provided the material we missed so that over the summer we can complete the state history book.

Friday was our last day of co-op classes, because we had the state history class on Wednesday, the kids only had the Answers In Genesis class, afterwards all the children were gathered together for pictures, of course I did not bring my camera. There were two well deserved teacher who were recognized for their outstanding service to the group, congratulations Rayeanne and Michelle!

Saturday I hosted a "Mom's Get Together" of homeschooling moms at my home. We have been trying to get together each month or at least every other month to stay connected. Three ladies were able to make it, and what a joy it was to be able to catch up and to talk face-to-face about what is going on. I so look forward to our little gatherings.

Eric took the kids to the Asparagus Festival at Sneed's Farm on Saturday, I asked him to find out the proper way to cook asparagus, but he didn't get that information for me - so if you know how to prepare asparagus, please let me know. After the festival they headed to lunch, then to the movies to see Indian Jones and Crystal Skull.

Last week was a busy week and we did not complete all of our Tapestry of Grace assignments for Week 28, since this was the first week of a new unit, I want to make sure that the kids have a good start in our last unit, so we will continue Week 28 this week.

Last night Eric and I had a little visitor in the backyard - a fox! Not sure what kind of fox, but the little guy was enjoying eating the bird seed. The light didn't seem to bother him very much, I guess he was really hungry, I tried to get some pictures, but non of them came out.

Week 27

Since this is our last week in Tapestry of Grace Unit 3 I really wanted to give it more attention and so this week we only did our Tapestry activities and math. For TOG we are studying the Greeks, learning about Alexander the Great and other key folks of that time.

Gene finished up his Math 6 assignments this week, he will start his Teaching Textbooks Math 7 next week. Nicole seems to be out of her “math fog” and is back to getting A/B’s in her math, this has been a easy breezy week of school for us.

The kids have been working hard on finishing up their lapbooks for Unit 3 and tomorrow will be gluing day. Of course I will be a snap-shot mommy and will post the pictures of their completed lapbook for Unit 3 next week. We have 9 weeks of school left and should be finished with this school year at the end of July. Today I finished entering our assignments for Week 28 in Homeschool Tracker, I go side tracked and didn't print out the kids assignments, but will do that tomorrow.

Week 25

This has been a routine week - nothing special, I don't even have any pictures of the kids, but the above picture is one of some of the books we read this week. Tomorrow will be extremely light, the kids only have three assignments to complete, plus any corrections they have.

The final book for our co-op book club is The Westing Games. I downloaded the book from Audible two weeks ago, but keep forgetting to start listening to the book, so tomorrow we will start that (hopefully), the book club will meet next Friday so I need to get this thing going.

Gene has only three weeks left on his current math program, so this week I ordered his math 7 from Teaching Textbooks. I am amazed at how this boy has gone from hating math to having math as his favorite subject! This is truly an answer to pray.

Today I finished entering our assignments into Homeschool Tracker for next week, so tomorrow I will print out the kids assignment sheets, here is a picture of the books we will be reading for next week. I will need to get busy requesting books for the first few weeks of our Unit 4 books. I love being able to request books on-line and all I have to do is go pick them up from the library. What a great service!

Week 24

This was week one of our next three week session of school, it feels like we have been out of school for two weeks because the week before our break we did our standardized testing and were finished with school before 10:30am each day. We all were slow starting this week, but by Tuesday was back in the swing of things.

I've been pondering on what changes we need to make for the next school year. I know that we will continue with Tapestry of Grace using Year 2, because we already have that. Gene will continue using Teaching Textbooks for math. I'm not sure if Nicole will continue with Excel math or switch to Teaching Textbooks. Decisions, decisions, decisions. One of many that will need to be made in the near future, of course I will be seeking the Lord for wisdom and direction of what to do.

We had our homeschool co-op classes on Friday. I believe we have only two more sessions left for our classes, it is amazing just how fast this school year has gone by. This was our first year with the group, and the kids and I have enjoyed the classes and getting to know the families in the group.

Bottles for Babies

Update on the Bottles for Babies service project, we have tallied the coins in the baby bottles and Gene’s bottle contained $27.85 and Nicole’s $27.99! Is that unbelievable or what - $55.84 of coins in two baby bottles!

Service Project

The kids and I take part in a couple of the service projects with our homeschool group. We send care packages and letters to two military servicemen deployed overseas. The latest project is called "Bottles for Babies" for Birthright of Fredericksburg. We just place our spare change in the baby bottles to help women in crisis pregnancies and their babies.



Aren't these cute, if you click on the picture it will enlarge so you can see the bottles a bit better. We stuffed the bottles with as many coins as possible, and the kids are going to count it. This is a small things, but we know the the Lord will bless our little bit and multiply it.

Homeschool funnies

I thought this was too funny! So with permission, I snagged this from Tirzah. Enjoy!

If you click on the image it will enlarge for better viewing.

Nicole's Writing -Week 22

The Ancient World
By Nicole

Sumer, with pleasant, charming rivers,
Magnificent, astonishing gardens
Towering, colossal ziggurats.

Egypt, with wicked, hard-hearted Pharaohs
Gigantic, massive pyramids,
The elegant, glorious Nile.

Israel, with God’s powerful law,
The immense, monumental temple,
And the plentiful promised land.

Greece, with dishonest, immoral gods,
Brilliant, kind, athletes,
Fascinating, philosophers.

Rome, with great, mighty emperors,
Strong, clever armies
Mighty, terrific gladiators.

The Ancient World
Intriguing, incredible, amazing.

Week 22 - Writing

We started Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons in Structure & Style from IEW last week. Lesson 1 was using quality adjectives in a poem. Here is Gene poem on The Ancient World, Nicole is still working on her masterpiece so I will post hers when she has finished.




The Ancient World
By Gene

Sumer, with remarkable rivers,
Great, glorious gardens,
Gigantic, towering ziggurats.

Egypt, with wicked, cruel Pharaohs,
Praiseworthy pyramids
The beautiful, lush Nile.

Israel, with God’s amazing law.
The towering temple,
And the pleasant promised land.

Greece, with hideous gods,
Astonishing athletics,
Intriguing philosophers.

Rome, with exquisite emperors,
Immense armies,
Fascinating gladiators.

The Ancient World,
Monumental, courageous, captivating.

Week 22

Did this week zoom by for you? I can hardly believe that today is Thursday!






Working together

Week 21

This was a tough week for me, my dear hubby was in North Carolina for work and returned Thursday evening, and I don’t sleep well when he is not here. The kids and I probably should have taken this week for our off week, but we made it through.

Friday was our homeschool group co-op classes, they have two classes on the second Friday, Book Club and Art History. The book up for discussion was Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks, my two kids list the book as a “must” read, Gene has already started reading the sequel The Secret of the Indian!Their teacher had some superb assignments for the kids to do; there was a group writing assignment that was hilarious! The artist for the art history class was Rembrandt. I always learn such amazing things about the artist we (they!) study, it does seem like all the artist studied have had such great tragedy in their lives, I guess the grief and other trails was fuel for creating masterpieces.

My Reliable Mother

by Gene

My reliable mother is very organized so that we have a place to put our work and a place where our school books are kept. Mom also washes and dries the clothes when the dirty clothes basket is nearly full. When it is close to supper time my mother frequently cooks fresh, hot meals which are delectable. Last, but not least she teaches our lessons for school and provides the resources we need for our activities. Because of this, my mother is very reliable.