***Summer Blog Break***

We are taking some needed time off. Please check back in late summer/early fall! We will be posting writing ideas, science plans, and notebooking ideas. Have a great summer!

Weekly Update

We are on our summer schedule, keeping up with chores, habit training, and some academics. I am finding that sleeping in late is not worth it to us. It seems to instantly produce sluggishness, laziness, and bad habits. So this week, it is back to 'regular' wake-up time. Keeping daily rhythms going works best for us at this point, although I reserve the right to change my mind. : )

Here's what we're studying this week:

Greek
We have learned the first 10 letters and sounds of the Greek alphabet. Each day we review our letter sounds, sing the Greek alphabet song, and do a page in the workbook (Hey Andrew!) This curriculum is hit so far, but we are only a few weeks into it. My dd really likes the songs, so I would recommend buying the CD's if you are considering this program.

Writing
Dd started an IEW writing class last week. We will continue to meet for 5 more weeks or so. She enjoyed the classroom setting and hanging out with her HS friends afterwards. She has a writing assignment to complete, and is actually EXCITED about it. Woo hoo! I am a complete failure at teaching composition and have been praying to find a tutor! What an answer to prayer!

Reading
Dh is reading Summer of the Monkeys aloud. This is a great adventure story. If your kids enjoy Gentle Ben or Lassie, your kids are sure to like this one. I tried to get my dh to read Sounder or Where the Red Fern Grows, but he refuses to read dog stories that make one want to jump off a bridge. He is a happy ending sort of guy. ; )

Miss M has been reading like crazy. She started and finished Island of the Aunts and James and the Giant Peach, and The Search for the Delicious last week. Today, she started Crispin by Avi.

Bible
We received and began the Wise Up! study by Positive Action for Christ. I really like this curriculum. It is a change for us, since the focus is on application. All the studies we have done in the past have been purely expositional. Memory work, activities, writing ideas, and other extras are included. It is pretty much a pick up and go program, and we enjoyed our first family lesson. We plan to do it together all through the summer, and transition into 50% independent/family work split with it by Fall.

Math
We are doing a math lesson twice a week to keep skills sharp. Miss M started the new book this week. The first CLE Light Unit is mostly review, so it have been easy and enjoyable so far.

Science & Nature Study
We are learning about flower pollination this week. We have a bunch of resources in our library basket, and have been discussing as well as doing some notebooking. On alternate days, Miss M has been working with the CyberEd Physical Science software. This software has been great, and she seems to be retaining what she has learned!

Other than that, we have been hanging out with friends more often, taking more walks, and just "getting out there" a lot. Listing the academics all together makes it look like we are doing a lot, but don't be fooled! Most subjects are only getting done twice a week, or so, reading being the exception.

I'm looking forward to more beautiful early summer days! This time of the year is truly glorious.

Healthy Lunch Planner #3

Monday
Chicken Pasta Salad - Toss together: 12 oz cubed, cooked chicken breast, 2 cups whole wheat pasta, 1 cup rinsed red kidney beans, 2 oz cubed cheddar cheese, 1 cup diced tomato, 1 cup chopped raw broccoli, 2 Tablespoons Light Italian Dressing. Divide into 4 containers and place in refrigerator.

Tuesday
Butternut Squash Soup (prepackaged) with Whole Wheat Tuna Pita Pocket (made with Light mayo and minced celery) topped with tomato & lettuce

Wednesday
Cottage Cheese with Apple Butter - Place the following in 4 bowls or take-away containers and mix well: 2 cups low-fat cottage cheese, 4 Tablespoons apple butter, unsweetened, 2 sliced bananas, 3 Tablespoons sunflower or other seeds. Serve with whole wheat toast and baby carrots

Thursday
Whole Wheat Egg Salad Sandwich with Tomatoes and Lettuce. Serve with fresh fruit.

Friday
Chicken Burrito - Whole wheat tortillas filled with portions of the following fixins: 2 cups cubed or shredded chicken (can use the whole, cooked chicken from the grocery store), 1 cup vegetarian refried beans, 1 cup cooked brown rice, 1 cup shredded Romaine lettuce, 1 cup diced tomato, salsa to taste. Sour cream or shredded cheese optional.

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For me, the hardest part about eating clean is planning and shopping. The planning is now done! Now I just need to shope and do a little prep. Here are some other items on my "To Do" list:


WEEK-END PREP: Go shopping! : ) Cook and pull off chicken (can use whole chicken, thighs or drumsticks) for Monday and Friday recipes. Freeze or refrigerate until needed.

THURSDAY PREP: Cook a double recipe of Brown Rice (I like Lundberg's Brown Rice Blends) and consider having as a dinner side dish, while using leftovers for Fridays' Chicken Burritos.

From Our Nature Notebook: Flower Power

This week our nature study focus has been flowers. I thought I would post how this nature study unit is being planned and a bit on how it's going.

Teacher Prep - The first thing I did as teacher background was read "How to Begin the Study of Plants and Flowers" by Anna Comstock (Handbook of Nature Study pp 453-460). Then I stopped by the library and picked up a few flower and plant-related books, field guides and magazines. The new June issue of Nature Friend magazine arrived (yay!!!) and I scanned it for flower-related articles and activities. (There were some!) I also marked the pressed flower project directions in my Nature Smart book.

Getting "Out There" Well, in this case, "out there" was in our backyard. : ) I announced that we were going to be finding some flowers to look at and press. Immediately, Miss M excitedly scampered out into our back yard to collect some fragrant lilacs. When she came back in she had a crown of lilacs and plenty of specimens to press.


Informal Lesson With my Handbook of Nature Study and Eyewitness Plant open, we each took one of the small lilac flowers collected and found some the parts listed in the Handbook on p. 456 - lobes of corolla, corolla tube, calyx lobes, calyx tube, stamen, and sepal. We looked at the beautiful pages entitled "A simple flower dissected" (pp 16-17) in Eyewitness Plant. After learning the parts of the lilac flower and discussing their functions, Miss M made a drawing for her notebook, labeling some of the parts.


Expand From here Miss M may press more flowers and make notecards and candles with them, using the directions in Nature Smart. We plan to make it to our local floral shop to see, smell, and compare different flowers. Adding to the nature notebook by identifying and drawing 3 or 4 local flowers and reading some books and articles will round out our Flower Power focus. I hope to do a few of Anna Comstock-style observation lessons with whatever flowers Miss M decides to identify. Using the Handbook makes it pretty easy, even though I'm not a botanist or even a gardener!


Art will be the flower illustrations, and maybe a sketch from the Draw 50 book. For Practical Life, we also plan to try our hand at flower arranging using some cheap, grocery store flowers mixed with backyard flowers and weeds and possibly try some edible flowers.

Resources Used

Here are some basic books we found at the library:

• Eyewitness Plants
• Eyewitness Explorers: Flowers
• Flowering Plants by Wendy Madgwick
• A Golden Guide: Flowers
• A state Horticulture Society magazine
• Draw 50 Flowers, Trees, and Other Plants by Ames

Here are the books on my shelf:

• Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Comstock
• Nature Smart: Awesome Projects to Make With "Mother Nature's" Help
• Nature Friend magazine, June 2008 issue

I will close with a sample lesson from Handbook of Nature Study. As you can see, this handbook is easy to use, practical, and just as useful today as when it was printed in the early 1900's. This method could be modified to use with any flower in YOUR backyard. : )

LESSON 120 THE TRILLIUM

LEADING THOUGHT The trilliums are
lilies, and are often called wood lilies, be- 
cause of their favorite haunts. There are 
several species, but they are all alike in 
that they have three sepals, three petals, 
and three leaves. 

METHOD This lesson may be given 
from trilliums observed in the woods by 
the pupils, who should be encouraged to 
watch the development of the berry and 
also to learn all the different species com- 
mon to a locality. 

OBSERVATIONS

1. How many leaves 
has the trillium? How are they arranged? 
Draw a leaf, showing its shape and veins. 
Describe the stem of the plant below the 
leaves, giving the length and color. 

2. How far above the leaves does the 
flowerstalk or peduncle extend? Does the 
flower stand upright or droop? Describe or 
sketch the colors, shape, and arrangement 
of the petals and sepals. Do the petals 
have raffled margins? 

3. Describe the pistil and the stigmas. 
Describe the stamens and how they are 
placed in relation to the pistil. 

4. Do the flowers remain open during 
cloudy days and nights? 

5. What insects do you find visiting the 
trilliums? Do the same insects visit the 
purple and the white trilliums? What is 
the difference in odor between the purple 
and the white trillium? Does this seem 
to bring different kinds of insects to each? 

6. How does the color of the white tril- 
lium change as the blossom matures? 
What is the color and shape of the fruit 
of each different species of trillium?
When is the fruit ripe?

Wordless Wednesday

Viva La Veggies

Our family, ok -- it's really just my husband and I, are committed to healthy family eating. One goal that I have is to eat a minimum of 4 servings of veggies a day. And, salty corn out of a can does not count. : ) As a former junk food junkie, this has been a challenge. However, it is amazing how much energy I feel when I am eathing right. Oh, and I have also dropped 40 pounds so far. ; )

Here are some principles that have really helped us:

1) Get a simple vegetarian cookbook and use the ideas to make vegetarian lunches. Recipes like Brown Rice Salad can be made the night before! Barnes and Noble and Borders have these types of books in the sale aisles all the time; that's where I picked up mine.

2) Instead of potatoes or white rice with dinner, make a second veggie. For us, that often means one cooked veggie and one raw one. For example, cooked carrots with raw broccoli or mashed cauliflower with raw baby carrots. For men or teens, add a slice or two of flaxseed or whole wheat bread.

3) Make a rule that snacks will include a raw fruit or raw veggie and have these readily available. I love to keep a beautiful fruit bowl on the kitchen counter. Cheese, nuts or low-fat popcorn are optional.

4) Every time you leave the house, pack a cooler of food. Bring water, fruit, low fat cheese sticks, baby carrots, almonds, and other healthy snacks. This will prevent you and the kids from getting over hungry and stopping by the McYuck Drive Thru.

5) Get the junk food out of the house. Your kids don't need it, and neither do you. When your kids' palates are used to high salt and heavy sugar, it will take a few weeks to acquire a taste for clean, fresh foods. Persevere -- instead of following your children in their bad habits by enabling them, lead them toward better choices. This is going to take time if you are a junk food junkie like I was.

Eating more fresh fruits and veggies will lay down a foundation for a lifetime of healthy habits for your children and your grandchildren. We can serve the Lord better with healthy, strong bodies than with frail, tired ones!