OK I finally began ordering curriculum to get this year started.  Here is what we will be doing this year.

Sydney:
Math: Saxon Algebra 1/2
English: Rod and Staff
Writing: Writing Strands
Vocab:  Vocabulary from Classical Roots
Science: Chemistry: using Christian Kids Explore (since I already have it)
History:  Mystery of History Vol 3 (we love this history)
Critical Thinking: Art of Argument (still hoping to purchase)

Josie and Mazzy:
Math: Miquon workbooks
Reading: 100 Easy Lessons (already part way through)
Language:  First Language Lessons
Writing: Writing With Ease
(they will sit in on history and do some chemistry experiments with Syd)
Handwriting: I will use online sources for worksheets and copywork.  I will share some pf these sites in a later post.

Addie:
Reading: begin 100 Easy lessons
I have K4 and Letter of The Week curriculum from Confessions of a Homeschooler: http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/
 
She is having a giveaway right now for this curriculum!!!!

Ruby:  Anything to keep her busy!

Art: Using Artist study from Confessions of a Homeschooler (its free and free is good)
Lots of crafts and fun stuff

Music: Composer study from Confessions of a Homeschooler (very low price)
Listen to lots of different music!
Going to teach several of the girls how to play the mountain dulcimer this year. Yipee!

Read LOTS AND LOTS of good Living Books!!!  If you don't know what that means let me know.

Well you get the idea of what books will be laying around my house this year.  Let me know if you are using any of this same material!

Still Growing Strong

I just got done reading my very first post on here from June 2010.  Had to make a slight change to it on the end!  Wow still feel the same way I did back then and those two trees are still growing good and strong standing next to each other.

Homeshool Planning 2012 The Beginning

OK so here comes another year of homeschooling just around the corner.  I am trying to plan out what curriculum I will use this year.  Looking at what I have and what is still needed.  I have always been a follower of the Charlotte Mason approach to homeschooling.  That being said I recently read the book A Well Trained Mind.  I have actually read the parts that apply to my kids twice.  I found it to be very interesting.  Prior to reading it I felt very intimidated by what I saw being sold as Classical Curriculum.  So this year I will be combining the two approached a little bit.

After homeschooling for a while my two favorite things are Mystery of History and Apologia Science. My children love them both and any time we havn't used them during a school year things just didn't go as well. So why mess with a good thing!?

I will post soon my exact curriculum plan for each child and post how thing go through out the year.

Another goal of mine for this year is to read the kids books of the book lists from Honey For A Childs Heart.  I loved this book.  I am hoping to purchase Honey for a Teen Heart and Honey for a Moms Heart soon. 

I will be trying to sell some curriculum and books that I know I wont use so that we can stay on a tight budget for books to be used this year.  OH I wish I owned a money tree.  There are so many great things out there that I would love to have for my kids to read, look at, and play with.  By the way The Old Schoolhouse Magazine had some great articles this month on how to homeschool on a budget.  Great stuff and just what I needed to read!

So what are some of your wants or needs for this homeschool year?  I would love to hear?  What do you use that you absolutely love and would not change?

Happy Planning!

Need More Me Time

Wow, has it really been since November since my last post.  That really needs to change.  I love to write and really need some more me time so I will try to post more. 

Some topics for the future.

Our Garden:  We moved last spring and didnt have the time for a garden (too busy settling in and giving birth to a baby)  Now thanks to my hubby and father-in-law a new garden space has been tilled up so I will keep up on that project.

Homeschooling:  Had some curriculum changes in mid year which was hard but well worth it.

Raising Girls:   HMMM where do I begin!!!!!!

Well that should get the creative writing juices flowing!

Hubby just got home early so that it all for today.

The Art of Racing in the Rain

I just finished reading the book The Art Of Racing In The Rain and novel by Garth Stein.  It was so great. I loved this book.  A great story about human life and human behavior as only a dog could tell.  I loved Enzo so much by the end of this story.  I will never look and any dog in the same way again.  Especially my older dog Belle.  I must say when I first received this book from my mom I didnt think I would like it.  Was I ever wrong.  This book was so well written.  I would recommend this book to anyone, especially to those that have a dog in their life.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0061537969/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link

Fish and Mushrooms. What to do?

Thanks to my wonderful dad I have been the recipient of many, many pounds of fish over the summer.  I LOVE fish and if it were not for him I wouldnt get any, as my husband is not a fisherman.  We have had several fish fries but with so much fish still in the freezer it was time to get pickling!  Yes that is right, I said pickling.  I pickle fish and it is wonderful.  So I now have the bottom of my fridge lined with several jars that will be read for us to enjoy this weekend.  I hope to eventually share the recipe with you all.

Now on to the mushrooms.  My dad called recently and asked if I wanted some wild mushrooms.  Well duhhhh, of course I want mushrooms.  My dad is not only a good fisherman he is great at seeking out edible mushrooms.  So I figured he would stop by and drop of a few.  I was shocked when he walked in my house with a cooler full of mushrooms.  It took my husband and I over an our to get them all prepared and in bags to freeze.  Some when right in our meals this week and I still have a few in the fridge. 
Here are some pics so you can get a better idea of what I was dealing with. Not that I am complaining one bit.

Volcanoes

Last week we learned about volcanoes for science here at our homeschool.  After reading several good books about volcanoes with them I decided to have them build one themselves. 

First we made a dough using flour, salt, and water. 

Second I had them each draw some pictures of houses and landscape to put around the inside of the box, we wanted this to look as real as possible of course.  The empty soup can in the middle will be the center of the volcano.

Then it was time to add the clay.  We realized we added a little to much water because the clay just kept sliding down the can.

But that didn't stop my girls from having fun.

So once the construction was complete we waited for dad to get home from work and then I began filming with my camera.  What happened was unexpected.  I didnt realize what was going on in my 4 year olds mind as I was reading about volcanoes and what happens when one erupts.  In her mind this little volcano we had made was very scary as you will see from this video.

OK I can not figure out how to flip this video but it is too cute not to share so just get over it and tip your head OK.  Thanks.  Oh, did you notice the matchbox cars the girls added for extra effect.