Links for Homeschool (updated Nov 2011)

ART:
Sketchy Tuesday
Comic Templates
Lego Quest Kids :Weekly Lego Challenges


LITERATURE & WRITING:
Books Should Be Free (free audio book downloads)
Free Phonics Worksheets
Wacky Web Tales (similar to Madlibs)
Spelling City
Simply Charlotte Mason

Storyline Online (Free Audio Books)

Story Nory (More free Audio Books)


SCIENCE:
Magic School Bus Movies (free)
The Outdoor Hour (weekly natural science assignments)

Science Projects for Kids (Janice VanCleeve's great website)




SUPPORT FOR THE HOMESCHOOLING MAMA:
Heart of the Matter Online
The Lost Tools of Learning by Dorothy Sayers
Echo in Celebration: A Call to Home Education by Leigh Bortins
DonnaYoung.org (everything from calendars to worksheets)
Homeschooling Without Being Overwhelmed: Part One, Part Two, Part Three
The Futility of Comparisons
Masterly Inactivity (Free ebook)
Education Is (free ebook)


LEGOS:
The Legomen Project (a place to view & trade your lego men with some other cool kiddos)
LEGO Bricks & More (a new design to build each month)
Lego Quest Kids :Weekly Lego Challenges


MISC:
Field Trip Logs & Brainstorming

C.S. Lewis

The Mother of All Link Pages for Kids/ Education

Book Lists:
Books Categorized by Geography
Ambleside Online (great reading recommendations)


Geography:
States & Capitols game


Scripture & Bible:
Seeds Family Worship

A little help?

First off, I found a link to add to my favorite homeschool links. I guess I should say that someone else found a link and sent it to me. This website has all kinds of fun "School House Rock" esque shows that review/explain different things we've been studying.

This week our Science question is regarding the States of Matter. There are four. Do you know what they are?

I didn't.

Liquids, solids, plasma and gas are the states. We learned more about solids, gases and liquids on this site....I welcome supportive explanations when I'm teaching things like Science, Latin. Eh em.

November Homeschool

October School

December is always a full month. I have set out to keep it as simple as I can over the last years, but no matter how I try it's full. Events and gifts, cards , decluttering, and school.

Yes, school is just about last on the list. And it's good, we do light school. A few more reading aloud, a little less seat work. It's kind for all of us, peaceful December.

My most recent excitement is deciding that we need a school room. It is not an easy interruption, clearing the table for meals or any other thing that needs to take place on the kitchen table. Not only that, but I think it would be lovely to have walls on which to pin my maps and other school wall-art. Mostly, I'd love to have a chalk or white board.

I started dreaming on moving school to the basement. We have a large playroom down there, it seemed the logical place to have school and tables, posters and pencils. However I've since changed my mind, and decided to put school in the room that has no name. It's a small room off our family room. Right now it's a Lego room, home to a large collection of toys sprawled across the floor. A bookshelf, a drying rack, a file cabinet. Nothing much in there but space and window and WALLS. So I'm excited to begin the changes this room needs to work school out of the kitchen. Oh, can you tell I'm excited? I can't stop rambling about it.

The other wonderful part is that my grandmother has asked if I want her old teaching table. My grandmother got her teaching certificate when she was 16 years old. Must have been about 1930. She worked in a one-room school house in Nebraska for 6 years, running the school and the furnace to keep them warm. What a lovely story! Years later after my father was born, she held a Kindergarten in a finished garage off of their home. In these days Kindergarten was optional. So in this Kindergarten she had four large tables for her students, my grandfather made each of quality Walnut. And she would like to know if I want the table! Oh joy! I cannot wait!

I did go to visit my grandparents over the weekend, a very, very sweet time. I wasn't able to bring the truck to move the table though, the roads were snowy and I drove my car.

I will be posting photos of the new school room as it develops.

Reviewing the month of November goes like this;

We stuck to our plan of Unschooling Fridays. We had a lovely time focusing on Nature Studies but also spending time on Autumn crafts and then, snow play!

For all of my three students;

I'm using Start Write to work on Penmanship. I usually copy of the memory verse the boys are working on for Awana and they copy them daily. The boys need plenty of work on Penmanship, all three. We also read through their Awana books for Bible stories and conversation.

The boys continue to practice Classical Conversations memory work as usual, and Joey is doing extra practice work. Joey will try for Memory Master this year, which will require him to have memorized 100% of the facts we've learned this year; English, World History Timeline, Geography, Latin, Science, History, Math. This is a lot of work but memorizing seems to come easily to him and he gets better.

Our Classical Conversations has spurred topics and mini studies in the solar system and constellations, and we follow up with Story of the World learning about Islam and other Medieval Middle Eastern History.

We continue with Nature Studies, Art, and have practiced Tin Whistle in Novemember.

Eldest, Third Grade, turned 9 in November! What a fun month for him.

Saxon Math

For his Essentials Writing Class, we're reading through First Language Lessons. He's been writing about Knights and the Middle Ages, and Honey Pot Ants.

For Spelling we've used SpellingCity.com (too fun!) and practice. Luckily, Spelling comes easily to Joe.

Middlest , First Grade

Saxon Math

We keep personal Calendars to discuss the format & work on the concepts of time and planning.

Nate is working through Teaching Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lesson and improving on his reading daily. He likes to read Bob books and I am working through Writing With Ease with he and Eli.

Littlest, Kinderyear

Eli has been working through various workbooks for Math. Numbers, addition and subtraction seem to come quickly to Eli.

He is also doing daily reading lessons in 100 Easy Lessons. Eli has read a few books, but I think this book is a good place for him to start.

Other Thoughts:

My husband suggested that I begin to create monthly report to keep record of what we're doing, what materials we're using, etc. Truthfully, I'm a little miserable at keeping track elsewhere. In doing this, I'm also seeing some weak areas I'd like to improve upon.

I haven't really taken time to set goals in our work. Perhaps I'll set some sort of calendar to create goals. I'd like to work through our read alouds more quickly, and work more quickly through our Math books too. I will start Eli on Saxon 1, and probably begin 1/4 into the book, and take Nate there with us. Going back a little will reinforce the work that he has done and he and Eli can do the work together. Nate is ready to begin spelling, and it's just time to make some changes. I'll post my plan one day. :)

A squirrel, birdies, & graces

He's as happy as can be, enjoying the challenge of getting the seed out of my feeder. Though my intent is to draw in the birds, the boys and I truly enjoy the antics of this Fox Squirrel in our yard. There are several that run back and forth on the power lines over our back yard, safe from the lusty jaws of our dog. I have watched these squirrels sit on a stump or fence post and shake their long tails at the dog. I believe that this is a challenge, or maybe even a tease. "Come and get me, go ahead!" They seem to say to Juneau. Taunting little monkeys, they are.

Here you can see he's perched on our feeder, he squirrels down and pulls out the seed for a little morning snack. Fox Squirrels can grow up to 27 inches, their tail is 13 of those 27". They're one of the largest species of squirrels. I have also learned that they tend to mate in December and have babies in February, so we'll be watching for the rituals and signs of nests.

So many people think squirrels are pesky, my husband is not too far from that. Perhaps I can create an affection for them through our studies so he won't develop too much of a desire to rid our yard of them. They can be a bit pesky.

Back to the birds....I set feeders out in the yard and was disappointed to notice that only the squirrels were interested. Then I had a duh moment. I was chatting on the phone upstairs, looking out the windows and saw 5 or 6 birds up in the Sycamores. These are Northern Flicker Woodpeckers, they were poking around under the bark finding bug and spider snacks. I had the epiphany, we have mature trees in our yard....the birds already have home and food here.

Male Northern Flicker.

He is so large, and fun to watch as he pulls pieces of bark away from the tree to find bugs.

Females to match him.

And so this made me realize that there were, indeed, many sparrows living in our line of Cedars, I scooped up a some seed and planted it on the ground next to the Cedars. In no time at all the happy birds discovered the food.

A Dark Eyed Junco (or is it an Oregon Junco?)

...and it got me thinking about Our God, how He loves to pour grace-gifts on us for us to find, gifts to fill both tummy and spirit.

Let's dine friends, on God's Grace in our lives...

Counting God's Blessings...

1. Snow Days
2. Teeny buds on my Christmas Cactus
3. A warm Fire
4. Blog-Inspiration; Ann, Barb, Angie
5. Construction (my bedroom is larger today!)
6. A kind husband to a wife with a cold
7. Alka-Seltzer
8. "Come and snuggle me, Mama" at bedtime
9. Another year to read those 'young' reader books
10. A whole world in our backyard

Autumn Outdoor Hour

The boys and I hit the river again for our Outdoor Hour with Barb. This week we were challenged to observe both the weather and the change of the seasons. We bundled up in our warmest and packed up some hot chocolate & sketch books and headed down.

The boys are so content just to go to the river, they didn't need to have a task or challenge. I kept them close long enough for us to make some observations.

Eli's took notice immediately, and saw that the sun was hidden by the fog and clouds. Fog was an item of great interest. When we looked it up: While fog is a type of a cloud, the term "fog" is typically distinguished from the more generic term "cloud" in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated locally (such as from a nearby body of water, like a lake or the ocean, or from nearby moist ground or marshes)

Summer or Autumn, rocks abound & are treasures for our pockets

We've discussed how the fog hovers over the river oftentimes in the morning and burns off as the sun rises.

We observed that the leaves in the trees are thinning and the rocks were covered, and that they make the gravel more comfortable to sit on.
The day's stats: 9:00 a.m Nov 5

47.8 degrees

Wind blows off the river, to the West

Dew on the rocks near the river, from the fog?

I printed out a simple weather chart, and contemplated investing in a barometer and rain & wind gauges. I know my husband will love these things. I plan to post the weather chart by the back door, with hopes that the boys will take readings as frequently as they like. (Thanks Barb, for this inspiration!)

Hot Chocolate, mugs abandoned

The boys stayed at our beach spot long enough to get warmed by hot drinks and visit, then they were off to explore. I crept up to the river trail where I could catch a view, reading from The Handbook of Nature Study about weather and the historical development of the study & prediction of.

Summer/ Autumn Contrast: Green tree leaves are now golden, yellow and brown ground leaves. The air is cooler, when the sun is out it's warm but not hot. We haven't been here long enough to notice where the sun is rising...that will come. Autumn has fewer bugs, snakes, critters but we still hear the birds in the nearby trees. The air smells wet.

Dandelions revisited; we didn't find a single blooming dandy, but many have gone to seed.

Before Eli blew these seeds off, I heard him whisper "God, I wish for sisters. Amen" Too cute!

Perhaps our favorite season monitor so far, the Sycamores in our yard. Beauties!! When we got home, the boys added treasure to our nature collection & sat down to nature journals to sketch. I regurgitated what I read in the Handbook, we discussed the chapter more.

What little boys are made of.

These little ones, the joy of my heart!

Summer Fun

While the boys and I are certainly taking a summer break. But what I know after a few trial breaks is that we at the Perko house need to be busy-boys.

So though we're not doing much seat work this summer(I may load them up when we're sitting in the car for long drives) we plan to participate in several fun projects and investigations to keep hands and minds busy here at the Boy's Noise School.

Mondays offer a LEGO challenge over at LEGO Quest Kids. The boys love a challenge, and they love LEGOS. There's always something fun for them to build and share with other families that are participating.

Tuesdays Barb over at Sketchy Tuesday offers a challenge to sketch each week. My boys love the weekly slide show & the anticipation of the next subject to draw.

Then on Fridays we'll be participating in Outdoor Hour challenges with Barb at Handbook of Nature Study. We've been loving our studies so far. I'm learning with the boys new questions to ask, new techniques of of observation. It's wonderful.

Hopefully these fun activities, plus a lot of camping & visiting in between should fill our summer nicely & yet leave enough time to swim, watch some fun weekend movies, play games, and of course, read, read, read....

What are you planning for the summer?

Outdoor Hour: Snakes & Why We're Making the Hour

This week for our outdoor hour the boys and I checked out snakes. We brought home a handful of books from our local libraries and read some interesting facts about snakes. We looked at dozens of photos in those books and those of the snakes that are listed as native.

Snakes that are native to the area are;

1. Rattlesnakes. Enough said. For that very snake we did not go poking around in the Canyon to find snakes. We leave rattlers alone.
2. Gopher snakes. Gopher snakes gain much respect too, as they have a mock rattle to scare away predators. It works.
3. Rubber snakes...the boys & I found these to be quite interesting b/c they really look rubbery.

There are a few more, but on to a bit of what we've learned about snakes in our reading and research.

• Snakes are cold blooded, which means they have no control over their internal temperature. So in order to keep warm they lie in the sun or on sun-warmed rocks. Snakes have to get warm enough just to eat or move.
• Snakes shed their skin as they grow. The shedding starts at their mouth, the skin peels off over their body and they wriggle out of their old skin.
• Snakes are carnivorous. Meat eaters. Some snakes are egg eaters. They eat the eggs, crack them and eat the nutritious meat of the egg. Then they spit out the shell.

We read billions of new things, then the next day we took a field trip to our local pet shop to get a better look at some real live snakes. This proved to be an interesting visit. Both the gals that were working in the shop were happy to let us look at the snakes but not interested (loathed & hated) in snakes, therefore, our list of questions that we brought went unanswered. They were, however, willing to unlock the cage so I pulled out a ball python for the boys to touch and hold. I didn't get any photos, as I was doing the handling. :)

The most interesting things we learned in the pet shop were;

• "I thought that snakes weren't slimy!" Joey said. Snakes are so soft and smooth that they can feel and appear slimy. But they aren't. They're smooth and dry.
• Pythons, even babies that are a a foot long, squeeze their prey to kill it before they unlock their jaws to swallow their food in a single "bite."

The boys have had a wonderful time reading about and checking out the snakes, I'm hoping we'll see some on our hikes in the future...or at least be looking.

LOOKING. Why we're looking.....



I'm starting to see why it's important for us to be doing this hour. The art of observation.

Little boys, little sweet-two year old boys are incredible observers. I think it has much to do with their inquisitive nature, and the fact that they're down low to the ground and not moving too fast. But big kids...they move so fast. Teaching these bigger ones to slow down and observe...and what to look for is so important. Now that we've been taking some time to observe, the boys are naturally starting to slow down and observe nature themselves, pointing out lichens and birds, identifying flowers and types of rock. I love when a boy comes screaming in the door, "Mom! We found a bumble bee! I know it was a bumble bee because it had little pollen pockets on his legs!"

Today life has a hard pull on people to stay indoors. This is the other great part of the Outdoor Hour for us. We are encouraged to get outside for just a bit, and it usually leads to more time outside. Being outdoors is so important. Connecting with God through His creation never gets old and He reveals Himself through nature. Creating competition with technology and lethargy is the work that this hour can accomplish. I'd encourage you to join us with Barb at Handbook of Nature Study for her Outdoor Hour.

Dandy, just Dandy

The boys and I went out today in spite of the rain and cumulonimbus-coated skies. We went out in search for dandelions. Thanks to some neighbors, we have the perfect yard in the neighborhood for studying a variety of dandys.

Nate had spotted the yard full of flowers earlier this week so we hopped down there with tape measure, ruler & observation skills in hand.

The boys took turns measuring to find the tallest dandelion. Nate won (because it's all a competition amongst boys) with a whopping 15" flower. Because it's just too hard not to win, we also measured the diameter of the flowers, and Joe found a flower with a 2" diameter, no small flower.

Then we looked at the flowers in their different stages. Some of the flowers were in the first stage, just a bud. We looked at the blooming flowers, then at the seeding flowers (the fun part).

My boys did their part in spreading the dandelion love.

Something we found that I didn't know is that the flowers fold into a bud while they change from flower to seed. At home we opened these buds to find the seeds, green and wet preparing to open and let the seeds loose.

The boys observered that the stems of the dandelions are hollow, therefore making great little straws. They also observed that the stems tasted awful and proceeded to do a lot of spitting in the yard.

At home we did a little sketching in our Nature Journals, seeds and flowers, leaves and the like.
Join us on our nature adventures over at the Handbook of Nature Study for weekly nature challenges.

Sketchy Tuesday

(Eli's very Rainbow Chinook Salmon. I love how he saw the salmon and just saw color)

The boys have started up with Sketchy Tuesday with Barb over at Harmony Arts. Each week, the kids get an assignment...something to sketch.

It's a great challenge. A few weeks the topic was "something that blows in the wind." Last week was "draw something you find in a First Aid kid." This week the boys got to study the images of our state fish and then translate into their own art.
(Chinook Salmon by Joe)
When the boys are done with their art, I take photos or scan it. Then I send the art over to Barb who kindly creates a slide show of all the art submitted.

The second favorite part of the week is watching the weeks slide show. We get to look over the entries of other kids around and be inspired.
(Nate's Chinook Salmon with shark teeth, of course)
It's very fun, come join us over at Harmony Arts, let me know & we'll look for your art next Tuesday!!

Homeschool Reads

So I came across a little forum over at Heart of the Matter asking "What homeschooling books do you recommend when you're talking to friends?" I jotted these titles down for my own reference, but thought I'd share them with you in case you're looking for a good Spring read.

Also, amongst the many books Ralph & I bought at a recent marriage retreat. It has seriously changed my perspective on Christian parenting....for the better.

And I'm just in chapter 2.

Reminders of thinking about just what we're aiming for in raising our kids.

Reminders of being gracious with your kiddos, not lenient or legalistic.

Reminders to seek God for Wisdom when parenting your kiddos, rather than parenting books or fads...or blogs.

I highly recommend this book, for all parents.

..and now for the long list from Heart of the Matter;

Homeschooling: The Right Choice by Christopher Klicka

When you Rise Up: A Covenantal Approach to Homeschooling by R.C. Sproul Jr.

Family Matter: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense by David Guterson

Basic Steps to Successful Homeschooling by Vicki A. Brady

Whole Hearted Education by Clay & Sally Clarkson

A Mom Just Like You by Vickie Farris

You CAN Teach Your Child Successfully by Dr. Ruth Beechick

Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit by Terri Maxwell

A Mom Just Like You

One Hundred and One Devotions for Homeschool Moms by Jackie Wellwood

Homeschooling, a Patchwork of Days

For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay

Better Late Than Early by Raymond Moore

Educating a Wholehearted Child by Sally Clarkson

Easy Homeschooling Techinques by Lorraine Curry

Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto

The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson

The Joyful Homschooler by Mary Hood

The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook by Raymond & Dorothy Moore

Home Sweet Homeschool by Sue Maakestad

Thinking Christmas?

You so don't want to miss this fun little online shop. Let's Explore is offering $2.99 shipping until Sunday.

A few of my favorite things...

The Spinny Speller

Watercolor Crayons

Leaf Rubbing Plates

What's a verb again?

We started in on our Language Arts this morning and once again my 7 year old Joe came saying "Mom, I don't understand this!!"

As I started working with him, I realized he didn't remember what Verb, Noun, Adverb,etc. meant. So I pulled out some note cards and jotted the words down. On the back we wrote the definition and then came up with three examples of each.

That was when my light bulb moment came. Mad Libs! Oh joy, Mad Libs was going do a boring job a ginormous, fabulous, fun favor! ( some adjectives there for you)

I googled Mad Libs and came across several sites that have online stories. We used the Wacky Web and yes, there is use of Verbs, Plural Nouns as well as Singular (two new words), Adjectives and even Countries...another great subject to explore. The boys all pitched in, with my preschooler offering colors and names, my Kindergartener giving up names of Countries and big numbers and 2nd grader working out those tricky words with the help of his notecards.

The boys were rolling on the floor in hysterics with their hilarious stories, they begged me to do another, and another. After four I was ready for a break so now they're off to play, using their nouns, adjectives and prepositions...

Thanks, Mad Libs. Remind me to get some for the car, too.

Kumon at Costco!!

I have long-loved Kumons workbooks for my younger students. I was so excited to find them at Costco in a three pack for just $13. I think I paid $8 or $9 at Barnes and Noble for one, so I was thrilled. I think I might just go back.

One of the books we got was all about scissor-skills. There is fun work in there for Nate and Eli both.

Nate's finished product.

Eli got a bit frustrated with the project, so I was happy to cut the stiff paper into strips for him to snip. He had a lovely time and I know this will help him get farther with confidence and skill for next time. I highly recommend...

Notes to Myself

Geography Games to check out;

Scrambled States of America card game
10 Days in Europe
10 Days in Africa
Mad Dash
Ticket to Ride
Snapshots Across America
Take Off!

Make these cute little yarn apples (or pumpkins!)

Buy Spelling Power

Notebooking Pages Sale!!

For all of my home schooling friends, preschool and up, I found a great sale on these notebooking pages. I learned about it from Harmony Art Mom, Barb. Thanks for the great find!

Notebooking is a great way to work on penmanship, art and spelling/grammar while recording findings in Bible, Nature Studies, History, Geography and more. There are also simple copywork pages for little ones that are fresh and entertaining.

This is a great sale, it lasts just a few days so check it out. The prices are more than reasonable. If you order August 3-7 you're eligible to win a prize AND for $50 worth free E-books for schooling things.