Here is a review of our homeschool week, complete gross and cool eye dissection pictures. : )
Miss M is reading the novel Star of Light, and she did a heap of additional unit reading this week. Our unit focus was Northern Africa and we tied in a study of deserts, since the Sahara is such an important element of North Africa. Began coloring thematic maps, following instructions in Trail Guide to World Geography. In addition, it was fun to read about many exotic animals of Africa.
I taught a co-op science class, 'How the Eye Works,' and we learned the main parts and functions of the eye. After a couple of activities, the kids got to see a cow's eye which I dissected for them. (As Providence would have it, this ties in with our study in a wierd way -- a main character in Star of Light is blind!)
It was a busy, fun week here. Thanks for stopping by!
Oh yeah, Math, Spanish and English are going fine, too. We did DO them, just nothing exciting to report. :)
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
NEW! LUNCH MENU
I spent some time this afternoon making a lunch menu for next week. We usually do lots of soups and sandwiches, along with frozen South Beach or Kashi meals, but I'm getting a little bored with it. I thought I'd try my hand at a lunch menu and see how I like it. As Providence would have it, dh called to see if I wanted anything from the grocery store today. Just in time, hon!
Wild and Brown Rice salad (Tuesday) -- MMMmmm! Very yummy.
MONDAY
Mexican Wrap – whole wheat tortilla wrap or other flat bread, fill with heated, vegetarian refried beans or chilli beans (a can is fine but dry the beans well), crispy lettuce and some cherry tomatoes. Put a spoonful of guacamole on top (or natural yogurt for a low fat version). Wrap tightly.
TUESDAY
Wild & Brown Rice Salad – Toss together 2 1/2 cups of cooked and cooled Wild/Brown Rice Blend (I buy the pre-blended type so I can cook it altogether), 3-6 chopped green onions, 1/3 cup craisins, raisins, or dried cherries, 2 T chopped fresh cilantro, 1 T chopped fresh parsley with Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing (I love Paul Newman's). You can make this the night before and store in the frig. Just before serving, top with pecans or cashews.
WEDNESDAY
Soup and Sandwich - Egg salad with Cucumber on Whole Wheat paired with Tomato, Italian Wedding, or favorite low sodium soup
THURSDAY
California Wrap – Start with whole wheat tortilla, wrap or other flat bread. Top with turkey, ham, and a slice of tomato. In a small bowl, combine an avocado slice and 1 tsp lime juice, and then spoon onto the tomato (or use prepared guacamole). Top with the watercress or arugula and Ranch dressing. Wrap tightly in cling film and chill until required.
FRIDAY
Lunch Time Salad – Toss Spring Mix or other greens with pecans or almonds, chopped deli chicken, cherry tomatoes, seedless grapes, strawberries, sliced cucumber, cottage cheese, Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing (I love Paul Newman's).
Getting Scrappy
I am trying to get around to finishing up those Holiday pages. I am geting there. Sometimes I actually prefer pics and and pages from Everyday Life to Holiday pages. The Holiday pages are just so done...LOL! It's the same reason I prefer candid pics to the set up ones with cheesy smiles.
Here is a Thanksgiving page featuring my beautiful Mom, my lovely niece and handsome nephew. (The gal who needs her bangs cut is me! LOL!) I have found I prefer making simple pages that get done to really fancy ones that take too long and start looking cluttered. There was more embellishment on this page originally, but I took it off in favor of a cleaner look. Before I printed this page, I shrunk and moved the leaf all the way over to the left, so it was at the corner of the photo. Not sure why I didn't save it that way, but.... What are you scrapping right now?
After finishing this book yesterday, I can tell you The Color of Water will rock your world! I literally could not put it down. Full of tragedy and triumph, mystery and candor, The Color of Water is a book of delicious paradox. Well-written and honest. Definitely a must-read! If you have been wanting to read a book dealing with racial issues for Black History Month, this one is a winner. Five Stars. See the Amazon.com reviews for more info.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Cletus Take the Reel
This is too cute. It reminds me of the small town I grew up in -- full of avid fisherman and hunters. I love the subtle satire and "dramatic" photography! Hope this makes you smile.
***note - if music is competing from another post on my blog, simply hit the "Pause/Play" button for that player and viola!
I'm Rich in Books
Visiting the library just makes me feel, well, RICH! Good books energize my resolve to teach, and clarify the direction our unit of study will take. Basically, I just use what is available to us at the library. After our library visit, I cannot wait to dig into our treasure of Africa-related books and CD's!
An Amazon order of a few books just doesn't have the same effect on me as a huge pile of 35 books on all different topics from the library. And yes, I pay some fines, but it's so tiny compared to what buying all my books new would cost. I feel like "a rich man" with my small fortune of books!
Does anyone else LOVE visiting the library? Does it energize your teaching?
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Weekly Report - 2/14/08
At this point, I have no idea what week # we are on. And I don't care. : ) We were out of town caring for a family member last week, and we mostly did school via reading books and Time4Learning from the hospital computer. Do I count that as an Official School Week or not? Miss M began her Africa theme this week, and I ordered the book, The Color of Water, from the library for my own studies.
Here is how our week looked:
CLE Math: - Lowest Common Multiple, Naming Angles, Simplifying With Parentheses, Adding and Subtracting Time
Language Arts - Did a writing assignment from Sensory Journey Into Africa. Miss M described an animal so that her audience could draw or guess it, without revealing what the animal was. She did a great job on this assignment and turned it into a little flip up book. Worked on typing daily. From Sonlight 5 Language Arts, completed 2 activity sheets. Did 2 Spanish Lessons and got 100% on her Spanish Unit test today. Yay!
Poetry -reading and explaining what African proverbs mean. She seems to be enjoying this!
Bible - continues to read the minor prophets and is working toward a Bible KEEPERS badge.
Handicrafts/Practical Life Skills - made a Tuareg box from Hands-On Africa. Co-hosting our KEEPERS club tomorrow, which will include a cake decorating class and luncheon. (I spent the entire afternoon baking cakes and making frosting for the club.)
Memory - Memorizing North/West African countries. Continuing to memorize Romans 12, along with our KEEPERS club. I think we will add in some African proverbs to our memory work next week.
Spanish - Got a 100% score on unit 1 test. Here was the vocabulary:
Africa Theme - watched video "Gorillas in the Mist." Fast forwarded a couple chapters of the movie due to scenes involving adultery, which I didn't remember were there - but FYI. Read several sections from World Book Encyclopedia: "Africa." Of special interest were the sections on pygmies and population facts. Read and finished The Rat Catcher's Son and African Folk Tales (Dover Thrift.) BeganA Glorious Age in Africa,and Miss M is of the opinion that it is boring. I am asking her to read it anyway, as it looks valuable and I do this rarely.Miss M gave several good narrations and is showing curiosity about the land of Africa. :D
I plan to make a trip to the library next week to investigate some sources of African music. Maybe we could work up some sort of dance with it? We'll see. We didn't do a lot for music or composer study this week, unless you count Miley Cyrus. ; )
Here are some pictures of our KEEPERS meeting from 2/15. The girls earned their Cake Decorating badges.
Thanks for stopping by!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Journey into Africa
This month we will be learning about the land and people of Africa in our home. This topic wasn't scheduled in Sonlight 5 until the last 6 weeks of the year, but in the spirit of Black History Month, we decided to cover it now. Gotta love homeschool freedom!!! There are some really attractive resources available for a study of Africa such as:
Our Africa study will be loosely unit study-style with some Charlotte Mason elements thrown in. We are doing a pretty laid-back study using the child-selected book basket method for reading, a writing unit from HomeschoolEstore called Adventures In Writing: A Sensory Journey Into Africa, African proverbs, and Trail Guide to World Geography(Africa portions). Hands-on activities will be chosen by my dd from Hands on Africa or Global Art as she has time and interest. We will also focus on racial issues facing African Americans in the present and disuss how we can work toward racial harmony and justice for ALL.
You can download our six week schedule and resource list HERE.
African Proverb: "There is no medicine to cure hatred." - Ashanti of Ghana
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