Back to school!

Here's our crew on the first day of school. Well, it's the first day of public school. We've been homeschooling all summer.

Lined up in order of age (except for Sunshine who burst into tears as we tried to take the first photo and had to be bribed with peanut butter cups) are

Banana Boy, age 6, grade 1
Little Hey, age 7, grade 1
Pepper, age 8, grade 3
Layley Hey, age 9, grade 4
Daisy, age 10, grade 5
Sunshine, age 4, preschool
Jay Hey, age 13, grade 8
Rose Bud, age 13 (but almost 14, MOM!), grade 8

1st Grade Bird Unit resources

Two Evan-Moor resources for the lapbook (I used these because it was what I had on my shelves)

Giant Science Resource Book: Grades 1-6
Life Cycle of a Chicken, Bird Watching Record form and How an Egg Hatches

Animals With Backbones (Scienceworks for Kids Grade 1-3)
Bird Nests & Flightless Birds


Usborne Beginners Eggs & Chicks

Usborne First Encyclopedia of Animals, section on birds

Birds Do the Strangest Things

Kickin' Off the New School Year: Birds

Oh, cool. I have been successful at something homeschooling!

I've been messing around with Banana Boy's science curriculum forever (think: all summer) and yesterday, I finally just grabbed some books and decided to make it simple.

Me? Simple! Ha, that never happens in homeschool planning.

I collected some bird books (I decided now is the time to study birds) and some reproducibles and made some copies. Today I hauled all the kids off to Staples to buy fun new paper.

Then I came home and set up a lapbook.

Now, I've tried lapbooks with the girls and they are really lukewarm over them. Pepper basically hates them. Daisy will putter with hers on and off. RoseBud wouldn't ever touch one with a ten-foot pole.

But Banana Boy, who spent a year in public school Kindergarten, has been groomed to enjoy worksheets.

I began with the brilliant idea to make all the books AND plot out exactly what to put into them before I let him see it. With the girls, I've always tried to invent the wheel as we went along and they got frustrated waiting for me to tell them what to put in a book, decide what kind of book and make the little book.

HELLO! If you buy a pre-made lapbook kit, they've already done all that for you. Kid colors, kid writes, kid cuts out, kid maybe folds a little and kid glues book in.

So, I made and outline of the info I wanted him to learn, cut and folded all the little books and laid them out in the folder. (Do you have no idea whatsoever what I'm talking about? Look HERE.)

THEN I showed it to him. "Look, BB. For science, we're going to learn about birds and you're going to make this folder. See, in this little book, you'll write about what makes a bird a bird. In this book, you'll glue these little pictures about how an egg hatches." And onward and upward.

His little eyes lit up and he began to jump up and down. "Can we start NOW? Can I make it?"

And so, seizing the moment, I sat Sunshine and him down on the couch with me and we read our first book. Sunshine, for all his hyperactivity and gnat-like attention span, LOVES to be read to, AND he listens to the book!

At the end of the book is a glossary. The very first thing BB wanted to do was write down his Bird Words. He carefully wrote each and every word from the glossary onto the feather shapes I had made and then threaded each one, upside-down (so they would be right when flipped over) onto the brad. He was also careful to follow the blue-yellow pattern of the feathers.

Did I mention all this was happening around 6:30 pm after dinner?

Look how cute he is when he cuts!

He completed two and half mini-books for his folder before he lost interest.

I think I've found a winner for this child!

Bookworms All

I love this picture of a lazy summer morning at our house.

Rose Bud was a bookworm because she discovered she loved reading.
Daisy came to it late, but once she could read, she never stopped.
Pepper is a voracious bibliovore.
Banana Boy didn't know that you might NOT want to be a bookworm. It's just what you do around here.
And Sunshine? Well, monkey see, monkey do. (He's reading "I Am a Baby Elephant" BTW. At least he's holding it right side up!)

(and for the record, I think Rose Bud was at a sleepover or something, or she'd have been in the thick of it, too.)

101 Uses for Pattern Blocks

Heavenly Angles

Did you know all the angles in a triangle add up to 180 degrees?

Daisy didn't know this either, so I set out to show her.

First you need a triangle. Mark each of the angles so you will know WHICH of them belong to your triangle. The marks are the curvy little lines in each corner (and I should have marked them with one, two and three lines respectively to show that they are different measures. But I didn't)

Did you see the straight lines in the first picture. Well cut off each corner of your triangle on the straight lines.


Now, like a puzzle, fit the 3 corners from your triangle together (you might need to click on the picture to blow it up so you can see this better). All the corners should point the same way and touch. Keep an eye on the angles you marked earlier.

Do you notice what happens? When the three corners are fit together, they form a straight line. Every time! (We tried out 3 different triangles to check this) Guess how many degrees are in a straight line? Yup. 180. Therefore, the three corners of a triangle add up to 180.

How is this useful? Well, if you know the measures of two of the angles, you can find the measure of the third. Ta Da!

It also comes in handy when finding the measures of angles in other shapes such as rectangles, parallelograms (I love to spell that word!) and when working with angles and parallel lines.

Did I mention that I got 100% on every test in high school geometry and finished the class with an A+?

Anyone have any proofs I can work out???????

Wish List

Ooh, I love a new school year and I love to plan it out.

Implementing it---that's a whole different ball of wax.

But for now I am in the planning stage and it's all fun and games.

I've been pouring over my favorite homeschool suppliers and came across two fun new items that I would love to have.

Composers Lapbook


How cute is this folder? It's arranged like an orchestra. See the conductor there in the front? And all the instruments are tucked into their little pockets.

I'm also looking at the Civil War Time Travelers CD. I'm torn about this one. I have two of their other Time Travelers CDs and we used some of the projects from them, but not as many as I'd have liked for the price. I also already own the Civil War History Pockets and looking at the topics, I see many of the same in both sets. Granted, there is much, much more in the Time Travelers CD, but why not NOT use what I already own instead of spending more money to not use something else.

There. I talked myself out of it.

Yet, if I could find it for $5, I think I'd snap it up....

So basically, we'll be working through Sonlight Core 4 this year with the girls. Banana Boy is going to hang out and maybe listen in a little. I might read through The American Story with him. Not sure. I haven't ended up loving that book as much as I wanted to either. In story-length and illustrations it appears to be for young children, but then some of the language/vocabulary/concepts seem way up there. I guess I'll have to give it another shot to see.

For science I was all set to use Real Science 4 Kids: Chemistry. It will be too much for Banana Boy, so I ordered the updated parts of Sonlight Science K for him. This mostly consisted of the Usborne books I didn't already own. I have the old SL Science K from when Rose Bud was small.

AND since I was doing a SL order ( I had a $25 coupon) I also picked up most of the parts of Science 4. We have the microscope from years and years ago when SL offered it at an incredible price around Christmas. I never used Science 4 with Rose Bud, though, so I didn't have many of the books. It's been mostly revamped anyway, so I bought the new Usborne books that are included.

I have to say, The Story of Inventions has been a HUGE hit. Both girls have been gently spatting over who gets to read it and as soon as one puts it down, the other snaps it up. Rose Bud has read it, too. I read through a couple of the articles and it ranks up there as one of the nicest Usborne books I've ever read. The articles and text are easy to read, interesting and not as discombobulated as some Usborne books tend to be.

We're sticking with Singapore for math. Daisy will begin the 6th grade book next week. Pepper just began the 3rd grade book and BB is working through the 1st grade book.

For grammar, I'm typing up the worksheets from the old Sonlight LA 3, back when the grammar was good! Rose Bud, of course, used up the worksheets, but I still have the answer keys, so I'm retyping the worksheets and will use them with both Daisy and Pepper this year. The grammar instruction was so thorough and so wonderful and Sonlight has changed the format so much, that I want the girls to benefit from this, as well.

We are also continuing with Rod & Staff English. Daisy is skimming through the 4th grade book with the goal of working thoroughly through the grade 5 book later this year. Right now she is mostly working only the Review sections and skipping the main lessons and exercises. Pepper will begin the grade 3 book this fall.

Both girls are also continuing in Sequential Spelling. Daisy should begin book 2 sometime in September. Pepper is about half-way through book 1.

For spelling and phonics, Banana Boy will continue in Explode the Code. In 13 years of homeschooling, SL Language Arts has never done it for us before 3rd grade. I have tried, and I have tried and then I have tried some more, and we have yet to complete a full year of SL LA before 3rd. After 3rd, yes, the old LA was FABULOUS!

Language Arts-wise, my kids have done well doing just Explode the Code and (heh, I just accidentally typed "Explode the COD." snort) reading a lot. For those who have been strong readers by 2nd grade, we've also begun the R & S English book.

Anyway...this will be our main thrust and what I hope to get to every day. I'll share in another post the extras I hope to throw in.

Homeschool Grammar

Daisy was working on her R&S grammar book, practicing statements, questions and commands. The Rod & Staff books are published for Mennonite classrooms. One of the exercises was to write down 3 commands her teacher might give her.

Rose Bud pipes up matter-of-factly from the next room, "Sit down. Stop crying. Get out your books."

Homeschool at Grandma's

Every year we seem to not get any school done in July. We really ought to just take the month off. Last week, the three girls were at camp. This week, we made a road-trip to Grandma and Grandpa's.


Even so, I love to see the kids learning things, just because it's what we do. They like it.


Here are some snippets...


Banana Boy reading "Days Go By" for three hours in the car. "I think he's going to be a bookworm, too," says Daisy. Who needs a reading curriculum?

"He really IS learning him to drive out there!" says Grandma.
"Teaching," states Daisy. "You LEARN what someone TEACHES you." Who needs a grammar curriculum? Or a driving curriculum, for that matter!

We visited Heritage Hill yesterday and the three middles were thrilled to visit yet another living history site. Last week, Mr. GT took them to Stonefield Village, hoping to kill an hour before they had to pick the girls up at camp. After more than 2 hours, he couldn't get them to leave!

The kids had a great time exploring the Belgian farm, the print shop, Fort Howard and the early French settlement of La Baye where we saw the Ostensorium! "Oh! ......Ooh! ....That's the..... Pepper, what is that? Remember?"Who needs a history curriculum?

Pepper practiced map skills by navigating us through the park using the brochure map. Who needs a geography curriculum?

On the way home, we hiked the half-mile to the statue of Jean Nicolet. Who needs a PE curriculum?

Tuesday night, we played Golf (the card game) with Grandma and Grandpa. Banana Boy enjoyed counting up our points. Who needs a math curriculum?

Daisy has been continuing her bird study, finding new and different birds at Granpa's house than there are at home. Pepper has accumulated some new items for their museum--more bird eggs, a new snake skin and a stick. Who need a science curriculum?

And they've all been riding bikes like crazy. For some reason, it is more fun to ride the hodge-podge collection of old bikes at Grandma and Grandpa's house than at home. Pepper's bike has springs under the seat (remember those?) Sunshine has an old tricycle. There is even a three-wheeler adult bike (see the photo in my header). Did I mention not needing a PE curriculum?

Clown School

All fun and games, all the time.

Portage

Today the girls and I took a field trip to Portage, the city built around the 1.4 mile land-hike between the Fox River and the Wisconsin River.

We began our day with a stop at the Mackenzie Center, a nature education center adminstered by the DNR. What a gem! I had never been here, but the girls and I loved it!


As we walked in, Daisy , looking up through the forested area asked, "How do you know if a maple tree is a Sugar Maple?"

Ever quick on my feet, I answered, "Why, you just look at its nametag, of course!"
The girls were very intrigued by the rocks from which the welcome center was built. They all came from local fields and were the diverse rocks I grew up with--granite, basalt, sandstone, schist. Around here, all they know is the yellow flint-type rock we have. How did all these rocks come to the local fields, you ask? Why, the glaciers thoughtfully brought them!

Next up was the wildlife exhibits. And unexpected perk of this field trip (we hadn't planned on stopping here, really) was to see all the wildlife that once roamed an unsettled Wisconsin.

There were bison and deer.

Wolves.

Coyotes (not pictured) and cougars.

Yay! A turkey vulture!

Owls, hawks and an eagle. See the eagle's nest? It's huge!

The most social badger we've ever seen.

There was also a bobcat, fisher, porcupine, raccoon, gray and red foxes, a skunk, a possum. At each display was a little plaque with an imprint of the animal's footprint. The girls were delighted by these and checked out each one.
All of the animals were either injured or captive-born and are unable to survive in the wild. While it looks like conditions are not optimal (small cage settings with cement floors), the cages were clean and all the animals looked healthy.

One of the wardens actually showed up to do some cleaning while we were there and answered a bunch of questions for us. I was curious to know how long the animals lived there and surprisingly, many of them had outlived their in-the-wild lifespan at this center already. Overall, the place was well-done.

In another area of the center, there was a real 120 year old log cabin being used to house a logging display. There was a display of the maple syrup process and a huge ancient log (almost 300 years old from the time it was a seedling!)

The girls found this rebar wigwam. It was messy, so immediately they set out to sweep it clean with branches they found.

Our next stop was in Portage at the Surgeon's Quarters, the only remaining building of Fort Winnebago. It's located at the exit point of the Fox River at the portage. Marquette and Joliet were here.

It's a nice little tour, filled with amazingly old and wonderful things. My favorite was a beautiful sampler in PRISTINE condition made by a 12 yo girl in 1802!

We also visited the Indian Agent house where we had a nice, private tour by a nice homeschooling mom (she was the docent of the day). My favorite thing about this place (we were here with Rose Bud when she studied WI history) is the 200 year old elm tree in front of the house. When we arrived, the tree doctor was just delivering the estimate for the tree's triennial (is that the word? Every three years) IV treatment to prevent Dutch Elm disease. The tree's 2 siblings have already died from it, but this one remains spectacular and healthy! Here is a nice pdf telling the story of the Kinzies, the Indian Agent house (scroll down) and the Elms.

A nice bit of Wisconsin history can be found in the book Wau-bun, written by Juliette Kinzie in 1832 of her life at Fort Winnebago and as the wife of the Indian agent at Portage. It is considered the earliest written history of this part of Wisconsin.

Science: Birds

If you're reading the new posts from the top, start here: Science: Snakes

Our new property is blessed with birds of all kinds: Robins, Red-Winged Blackbirds, Grackles, Bluebirds, Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks, Baltimore Orioles, Chipping Sparrows, Barn Swallows and Mourning Doves, to name a few.

We are also blessed with evergreen trees. Little ones. Christmas tree sized. In fact, one lovely specimen will become our Christmas tree next winter.

Anyway, Rose Bud loves to nose about wearing her scarf. Last weekend she went nosing about for bird nests. So far she (and Daisy) have found 3 robin nests and two chipping sparrow nests.

We've already watched one robin's nest hatch, grow up and fly away. It was built on an old wooden step-ladder leaning against the chicken coop, so it was super easy for the kids to see into. This one had 3 eggs, only two of which hatched. (the last egg is still in there----ewww!) Another nest was WAAAY up in a hole in our big tree. The third robin nest is in a big pine tree by the driveway.

Last night, one of the baby pine robins flopped himself out of the nest. It's just about ready to fly, so it wasn't any terrible crisis. But the kids were so interested to follow it on it's adventure. It hopped and flapped its way around the house. At one point, they lost it in the flower bed and so gave up. But later, Rose Bud saw it again from her bedroom window and they all watched it hop to the safety of a bush near the original next where the mom finally brought it something to eat.

The Chipping Sparrow nests are so tiny! Their nests are both in very little pine trees. One has four teeny tiny naked birds with just a bit of silly fluff on their heads. The other nest had four tiny eggs.Here she is, chipping madly at us while we photograph her eggs.



The barn swallows have been desperately trying to set up residence in the (drumroll....) barn, but have been foiled repeatedly by Mr. GT. He likes to keep the door shut. I think they're finding a crack to sneak in, but I get his point. They do make a mess.

The orioles had two nests here last year. Once the the foliage has come out, the nests are almost impossible to find unless you know exactly where they are. But in the winter you can see the little sling nests hanging out at the tips of their branches. We think we've found their new nest by watching where they fly in the big tree.

The bluebirds, we hope, are nesting in the bluebird house, although we fear it is actually the Red-Wing Blackbirds. In any case, nest or no, the bluebirds insist on remaining in our yard. Lucky for us.

At this new place, we miss the Indigo buntings and the cardinals, the nuthatches and chickadees. But in their place, we are enjoying the bluebirds and the barn swallows.

Oh yeah, and then there are the vultures. The raccoons seem unable to cross the road and remain alive around here and being out in the open, the turkey vultures make short work of them. It's fun to drive around the curve in the road and come upon two huge vultures picking at the carcass. Mmmmm!


Next up, pollen and another dead thing.