May 27, 2010 by KellyH.

Over the past week we’ve had two snakes turn up in our yard. The first was a big one. A Black Rat Snake about 4 feet long. Here it is crawling across the top of one of our windows–a 5 ft-wide window! It just shimmied up the side of the house.

Here it is trying to climb another part of our house:

Check out the pattern!

The second snake was found in our pool as we were draining/cleaning it. I believe it is a Plain-bellied Water Snake.

I can’t help but wonder if that big one was the one that left the 4-foot long skin shedding a couple years ago. And as for the little one… he was so cute I wanted to hold him, but didn’t have the courage.

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March 7, 2010 by KellyH.

We’re almost finished with our unit on Family (also the Human Body–these go together quite well if you focus on how each member of the body is unique, just like each member of the family is unique) and the best part has been the read alouds! You may recall, from my earlier post on Chap. 12, that we started with Abigail Adams, wife of President John Adams. My children thoroughly enjoyed that story. We then moved on to Billy Graham, which they also enjoyed, but don’t seem to speak of as much. After that we read the Swiss Family Robinson, which was another hit. It was great fun discussing all the things the family had to “make” to live comfortably. Now we’re almost through with Susannah Wesley. There is so much history in that book! The chapters are a little long, but it’s giving us great opportunity to discuss marriages, death, and family living.

One more week until spring break… at which time I’ll be planning out the last couple months of our schooling.

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February 25, 2010 by KellyH.

Two days ago a Savannah sparrow hit my office window and scared the wits out of me (my computer chair is right next to the window). I looked out and saw feathers floating to the ground and a bird on the ground, obviously dead. He hit hard–didn’t have a chance.

This morning I heard another bird hit a window, this time my husband’s office window (directly upstairs from mine). The sound wasn’t as loud, so I hoped for the best. I looked out and saw a little Harris’ sparrow on its back, legs kicking as it struggled to figure out what happened. Thinking it would have a better chance right-side-up, I went out to see if I could assist it in flipping over. As I rounded the corner, he flipped by himself. Not wanting to cause more stress, I went back into the house and began praying.

Birds are such a fantastic example of God’s care for us. My heart was heavy for the Harris’ sparrow as he struggled to survive in the 31 degree weather. Being on the stone porch probably didn’t help him, and having a dead sparrow two feet away didn’t help me! My heart was breaking.

After an hour, the bird was sitting up, puffed out to stay warm, and his eyes were open most of the time. His head turned in reaction to shadows and loud noises, so I thought he had a good chance of survival. After another prayer for the bird’s safety, I gathered my two youngest and we went grocery shopping. An hour later we arrived home to find the bird still there. As we watched, he turned around. Thinking he would probably fly any time, we had our lunch, checking on him every 10 minutes or so.

Suddenly my daughter was yelling, “He’s on his side!” We rushed to the window to see the little bird about a foot away from his original spot, on his side, motionless. He must have tried to fly and it was just too much.

God had a plan for that bird’s life. He was always watching, always caring for it. He does the same for us: watching over us, guiding our paths, working out His plan. That little sparrow reminded me of that fact at a time when I needed reminding. Sometimes things happen in life that give us an out-of-control feeling. We can’t see the whole picture, so we grasp at what we know and try not to let things change. We can’t see that things are not really changing, or that if they are changing it is for the best.

We often get so caught up in what “might” happen that we forget to live in the here-and-now. We get ahead of God. My children and I enjoyed the nearness of that little Harris’ sparrow while we could. Later, they’ll go out and bury him and the Savannah sparrow (so I don’t have to keep looking at them when I look out my window). We’ll move on with our lives, and give our parakeets a little extra attention. And we’ll keep looking to God for direction and guidance.

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February 21, 2010 by KellyH.

We’re two weeks into our human body unit, but didn’t start making our organs until last week. No, I haven’t made the outlines of my children yet. After reading through the instructions, I was a bit flustered as to what needed to be done first. There are instructions for making everything… but not instructions for the order of making the models.

So, I’ve decided that we’ll just make all the organs and then worry about creating the body to “stick” them onto. And then I’m going to jot down lots of notes about how the project should proceed next time, and place it into my Weaver 3-D Body Book!

My children are really enjoying the sewing–actually, I think they enjoyed picking out the material for each organ the best. Rather than go out and buy plain material, we’re using whatever I have on-hand. These will certainly be colorful bodies!

I’ll post pictures at Facebook once we get a few more organs completed.

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February 9, 2010 by KellyH.

Chapter 12 of Volume 1 is the Human Body unit. But, while we’re studying the human body, we’re also studying “family.” I’ve chosen to do some read-alouds with this unit. We’ll be taking five weeks to go through this chapter, so I have four “families” to read about.

The first week we’re covering the family institution and preparation for family living. I chose to read Abigail Adams: First Lady of Faith and Courage (Sower Series). I chose this book because I simply love the way families were structured in this time period. It’s very different than what we now see, and this book gives me a chance to discuss those differences with my children. (Having just finished John Adams the time period is still fresh in my mind, as are John and Abigail Adams.)

During the first half of week two, we’ll be studying guidelines for dating. I’ve chosen to read about Billy Graham from the book, Backpack Books: Modern Heroes. All of these families exemplify godly people, which is what I’m focusing on for this unit. I don’t know if this book will touch on his relationship with his wife or not–the Abigail Adams book talked a bit about their courtship–but I’m sure I’ll find many character traits to point out to my children during this read-aloud.

During the second half of week two and most of week three we’ll be studying marriage. I chose The Swiss Family Robinson from Christian Adventures… 4 Books In 1. I realize this is a fictional family, but it’s also a family that works together to survive. Teamwork is another trait I’m trying to instill in my children.

During week four and the first half of week five we’ll be studying death, so I’ve chosen Susanna Wesley (The Sowers). I’ve read this book before and I seem to recall that Susanna loses a few babies along the way.

None of these books are suggested in the Volume, but they are what I have on my shelves. You will need to choose your own families to study if you chose to do read-alouds. As a way to wrap-up this unit, during the last week we’ll be studying “famous families.” I’ll be asking my children to write a letter to any of the famous families we’ve read about, even the Swiss Family Robinson, and ask them questions. It should be interesting to see what they come up with!

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February 2, 2010 by KellyH.

Chapter 11 of Volume 1 is one of the dreaded “White Pages” chapters. Why do these chapters strike fear into the hearts of Weaving moms? Two reasons:

1) It takes thought on the part of the mom/teacher to decide what to teach since there are usually so many options.

2) It takes discernment on the part of the mom/teacher to decide what to teach because not all of these chapters are broken down by age.

I believe Chapter 11 is the first White Pages chapter in Volume 1, and it’s followed by 5 more chapters, with only one of them NOT a White Pages chapter. That’s right, of the last 6 chapters, 5 are White Pages. But, take heart! As is noted in the intro to Chapter 11, the idea is not to make more work for you, but to lighten your load. Here’s what the author had to say:

As you review the materials that have been studied in the first ten chapters of The Weaver, you will realize that we have covered some very complex subjects. Chances are it has taken a toll on you. If it has, and your desk has a few file folders of left-overs, now is the time to catch up. Review any materials you do not feel your child has adequately grasped or finish items you planned to complete but have not had the time to do so.

This chapter contains six Bible lessons, as it is important that a continual study be made of the Bible to obtain the goal of hiding the Word of God in our children’s hearts. Character Sketches are continued in this chapter. There are no lesson plans for the academic level with it in mind that you will welcome a break and rest your mind as well as the minds of your students.

If, however, you are rested and wish to continue a detailed study with your children, the following are suggested areas of study. You may use the encyclopedia or juvenile section of the Library to help you with this.

She then lists 11 areas of study, mostly historical events that involved treaties or pacts. Since I could only find 4 of the 11 items in our encyclopedia set, I chose a slightly different route for this two week period: I pulled volume 4 of The Story of the World off the shelf and found the section that covers covers 5 or more of the suggested areas of study. We’re reading a chapter a day, starting at chapter 20 and continuing until chapter 29.

I know it’s awkward to start a book in the middle, but I have been curious about these books ever since I bought them and wanted to know how engaging they were for a read-aloud. They’re quite well written, and my children sit quietly while I read, with minimal–if any–fidgeting.  I give these books a hearty endorsement as resources/supplements for Weaver history. I’m learning a great deal myself, and finally starting to understand a bit more about our history, and the history of the world!

So, the next time you find yourself in a “White Pages” chapter, take heart! It’s a chance for you to relax a bit, and get creative with your teaching. You will not ruin your child if you take a couple weeks off from research papers. I promise.

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January 12, 2010 by KellyH.

As we moved into the second half of Chapter 10 (Vol 1) today, we focused on moons. Using the list of questions/facts from the 6th grade science objective #3, I started Googling phrases. First, I found this site:

The Lunar Clock at TheSwordbearer.org

This site taught us how to “read” the moon and then, based on its location in the sky, tell the time. Based on what we learned, the clock in the main graphic has the wrong time if we’re reading the moon correctly.

The other site I found quite interesting is:

The Moons of All the Planets

I didn’t realize that Shakespeare had such an influence on the naming of the moons of Uranus!

We also found a site that tells you how much you would weigh on the moon. Just plug-in your earthly weight and click the button:

The Moon’s Gravity at MoonConnection.com

I would love to hear about your “great finds” online and in books! Feel free to leave a comment here, on Facebook, or on the email list.

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January 8, 2010 by KellyH.

Chapter 10 (V1) has us studying the stars. In Bible lesson 4 we talked about how stars differ, and it was suggested that we study constellations. I pulled out my Handbook of Nature Study, by Anna Botsford Comstock. Part IV covers “Earth and Sky.” I highly recommend this book for anyone with children. It’s good reading, even for adults!

After studying the charts of constellations in the Handbook of Nature Study, I assigned the following for Creative Writing: “Create a constellation. Plot it, name it & sketch it.”

Of course, my daughter created an animal constellation–a bunny. Her older brother offered to work with her, and created a stick constellation that is actually attached to the bunny constellation (gotta give them credit for teamwork, at least). These two constellations were completely made-up, and not based on any existing stars.

My younger son decided that he was going to “find” something within the existing stars. After studying the charts a little longer, he created an acorn located between Pegasus and Cygnus.

I’ve always loved star-gazing, and it’s something my children have grown up doing as well. Once the weather gets a little warmer, we’ll be turning our eyes heavenward at night once again, looking for some of the new constellations we learned about this week, as well as finding new ones… like an acorn… or a bunny, holding a stick.

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September 16, 2009 by gracefrombrazil.

I enjoy the luxury of not rushing through a book.  I decided to try to find a book that would last through several units and would reinforce the subjects .  I have not read all of Jules Verne’s novels but the few that I have read aloud always teach us so much in such a fun way.  I chose for this unit The Mysterious Island.  It is the sequel to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and my children have been wanting to read it after they finished Captain Nemo’s first underwater adventure. 

From the early chapters I immediately saw that it would encompass so much of our future studies while reaching back and touching on others.  Stealing away in an air baloon and barely surviving a hurricane brought back to our minds units already studied.  One of the real surprises was the day we were studying in our math about how to figure the height of something very large by comparing it to a much smaller item, that has a known length, we saw it illustrated by the brilliant Cyrus Smith in the book.  That was very cool.

My 9 year old enjoyed reading through a lovely illustrated version of Aesops Fables during this unit. 

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September 8, 2009 by KellyH.

Successful Homeschooling is having its second annual Homeschool Reviews Contest! From September 7th through September 25th, 2009, you can win prizes of up to $150 in value by telling others about your favorite products. For more details, visit Successful Homeschooling.

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