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Today's Activities

Signed up for a trial period of Reading Kingdom. It's a whole word based reading program. So far, the lad is bored silly with it. He doesn't like that he has to find letters on the keyboard and it doesn't give him enough time to do so. I'll encourage him to keep at it, the sessions are really short so it shouldn't be too onerous for him. I do have to admit that part of it he likes (where he has to find pictures or click on things on the computer screen), but mommy isn't allowed to help him at all so he finds that a challenge - particularly when it comes to using the keyboard.

The program takes a multi approach to learning how to read. not only knowing how to see the word and read it, but also learning how to spell it at the same time.

I like learning to read phonetically as I think it will serve a person well in the long run, but I don't see the harm is blending methodologies of learning to read either. Some words just don't sound out well... and for those words you need to recognize the pattern of them in order to read them. So we'll work with this for a month and see what we think at the end of it.

The lad also played some thinking and logic games on the computer today. One was a math game where he had to accumulate points in order to progress in the game, and the rest were thinking games. I found it interesting that sometimes he was able to figure things out sooner than I was. :)

Playing with Lego was a big thing today as well. It was a snow day, and a Friday so we take things easy. It was a good day and he learned a thing or two so it's all good. :)

Carnival of homeschooling is up

The Carnival of Homeschooling - Mardi Gras!!

Links to All Things Free for Homeschoolers

this Site looks very interesting to me. I think this link leads to the main page.

I believe it’s possible to fill out your whole curriculum online–for free. This site is basically the curriculum our family uses. all sorts of freebies on it. :)

the person who puts it together even teaches you how to use freebies to build a curriculum. How cool is that? :)

so that site led me to this site called skedtrack which led me to their best sites which listed some good sites I'd like to explore more...mostly with my boy. :)

Kites

the twisting box kit was just fascinating.


the lad thought this was rather cool to see. "it looks like a dragon mommy!"


justin likes the cat one

Can you tell what the theme was for this afternoons study?

yes indeed, we undertook the study of Kites. We did Day One from Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett on Kites. Click here to view more details

We had fun. We got a bit hung up watching various videos with kites in them. Just kept following the links from one to the next. There are some quite neat kites out there. :)

We looked at Charlie Brown's mistake with kites, What makes a kite, and talked about wind and how it makes a kite work. The lad surprised me with just how much he knew about wind and lift. (good for a mom to be surprised). :)

Looking forward to doing more of this study on Friday.

What we Learned today - March 8, 2011

Today we practiced opposites. First I had to teach the lad what opposite meant.

And we read a poem on cats, and did some work about Tabby Cats. We're feeling VERY disorganized and muddle headed this morning so I'm pulling together things that I think will work for us today as book work ain't where it's at today. :) So we did some lap book work on cats. Poem, parts of a cat, practicing the letter C, Spelling the words Tabby Cat,

Pulled a poem from a cat study from reading-tutors.com. We read through it a couple of times.

We did this page from Enchanted Learning. And we read books looking for the letter C (easy to do when you have LOTS of cat books). :) We did this maze as well.

Then upstairs to read books for a half hour.

Time for a late lunch. and the cleaning up the house and playing. We done good on a day when we just want to veg so it's all good. :)

Programs to look at

this place makes blank board games. :) it's called Bare Books

then there's a reading program called FUNNIX. I need to do some research on it. But it looks interesting.

What we Learned today - March 4, 2011

Today the lad and I worked on telling time and writing out the long I, long U and short o sounds as well as figuring out first letters in words from a choice of three.

We also did colouring and designing of some of our own art work.

Then we made a Canada puzzle. I tried to find a pic of it for you but was unable to do so. I do know that I bought it at "the bargain shop" though. It's a really good puzzle as it has all the provincial flags on it. and has basic coordinates on the outside edge of the map. It's a really good one to do with a five year old as it helps him practice his numbers and alphabet, and the flags are easy for them to figure out so they are able to help well making a bigger then normal for them puzzle. We practiced finding coordinates (map reading), learning the province names (geography) and team work.

The rest of the day was spent watching a movie (stuart little 3) and doing laundry. :)

Nyiragongo Crater

This was interesting to learn about.

Hubby found that tidbit of information about the Nyiragongo Crater. The lad and I sat and looked at the pictures and talked about it. It's very hard to convey to a five year old lad how dangerous all that melted rock would be, and how the gases are dangerous.

He found it quite interesting how they had to protect the cameras too. :)

Hopping Popcorn Review

I've been a bit lax this week in keeping up with the blog.

We've been busy doing popcorn! :) And just so you know...with this review I'm allowed to give away a copy of it! You have until the 7th to leave me a message saying why you'd be interested in getting a copy of it. Numbers will be assigned and my son will pick it out of a hat.

Have you ever wondered just what makes popcorn special? Why does it pop? Why doesn't it pop? How many kinds of popcorn are there? What makes popcorn different than other corn?

ALL these questions and more are laid out for you in an easy to use format of Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett. called Hopping Popcorn. Click here to view more details

Day One was done with dad as I was called into work. You can find how that went here. :)
On Tuesday this week we did day 2-3 and today we did day 4-5. Like always, we picked and chose what we wanted to do, and we never did an entire day.

We drew pictures, we ate popcorn, we thought about making necklaces for the trees but one five year old thought that wouldn't be very nice for the trees...to be all pretty and then have the birds come and make them all unpretty...it would make the trees sad apparently. (go figure). :) We had fun learning about the different types of popcorn and learned there's a company that makes.... COTTON CANDY popcorn!!!! That was a real shocker to a five year old.

"Though mommy... I like ordinary popcorn". This was an oft repeated phrase ... particularly when I mentioned trying out some of the different recipes we encountered.

Today we had fun going around to our neighbours homes and asking them what type of popcorn was there favourite. We also asked on my facebook account what variety was the best. The lad was VERY pleased that his favourite ended up being the favourite overall.

Each day as a theme, and throughout the week a similar layout is done on a day to day basis. There are LOTS of videos to watch which is always a highlight. Check it out. See all the child friendly graphics? :)

One thing I would have changed about this study is not make it so US focused. Corn is grown ALL over the world. So why did we only learn about how it is grown here in the US? I just didn't understand that aspect of this study. Wish that basis had been broadened a bit. HEY... I got an answer to the focus on US cornbelt. Here it is below:

the reason the focus was on the US is because almost all of the popcorn grown in the world is grown in the US. The US exports much of the popcorn to over 90 other countries. The 2 countries that receive the greatest amount of the exported popcorn is Canada and Mexico. Popcorn is also native to North America, though it likely originated in Mexico.

HA! We learned something new! :)

You can read what other folks have to say here.

The folks over at Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett. are having a $5 Friday sale tomorrow. So go check it out. :)

Don't forget to let me know why you want a copy and once I have a winner you'll get your copy from the publisher. Make sure I have your email address please. :) March 7th is the deadline! :)

I received a copy of this unit study in return for my fair and honest review.

Sight, Sound, Taste, Hear, Touch

Today the lad and I learned about the five senses.

We cut out pictures of mouths, ears, noses, eyes, and hands.

We talked abit about how fish hear (vibrations in the water), and how people can hear better by cupping their hands over their ears (we had fun with this one whispering up and down the stairs).

We then played with a bunny and a cat for a while and used our five senses to learn different things about them. How bunnies smell like bunnies and cats smell like cats and people smell like people. :) Bunny fur is different than cat fur. Bunnies ears are shaped differently than a cat and so are their eyes. it was VERY interesting to a cat and bunny crazy lad of five.

We then traced out the words for the five senses. Then mommy wrote down different words for each sense that the lad could come up with.

Sight: looking, seeing, pretty, ugly, nice, colour, differences
Taste: tasting a chip, sweet, sour, salty, hot, spicy, yummy, "sometimes good, sometimes not good"
Hear: hear, listening, sounds "too much noise", "milo comes when he hears you calling Milo come here".
Smell: Chip eating, yuck, nose, "ew" "mmm" "cats - can smell like cats"
Touch: hands, fingers, somethings don't mind if you touch them, "helps blind people pay money".

All in all, a good time learning by a five year old. :)

Freebie of the day...whatever number this is :)

For some decent freebies of the day relating to homeschooling go there. :)

and because i don't want to lose track of these, I'm copying them down here. :)

Khan Academy. It is located at this addie.

An Old Fashioned Education. Go here to connect with the site directly.

EYEWITNESS TO HISTORY.COM. Go here to connect with the site directly.

Pocket College. Go here to connect to the site directly.

Nineteenth Century American Children & What They Read. Click here to go to today's featured site. And don't miss the page on Children.

and then there's this toymakers site. :)

this week and hopping popcorn

This week has been an interesting one.
Tuesday we cleaned the bookroom and read poems, books, and talked alot about all kinds of different things.
Wednesday we went to Dufflebag Theatre in London. We saw the Three Musketeers. We had a total hoot.
Thursday we did more reading, some book work with numbers and what not.

Friday I was called into work so Dad and son worked on Hopping Popcorn, Day One. The Lad had told me that he wanted dad to do day one of hopping popcorn with him. So I got it ready for them to do. Hopping Popcorn is produced by Amanda Bennett Unit Studies.

I created this copysheet for them. :) I had them use this site to learn the parts of the corn plant. :)

They apparently did well doing the lesson, the lad learned that there are 6 kinds of corn, but only ONE kind pops and that corn came from a type of grass.

In evening we went to gymnastics. It has been changed from Monday due to the Family Day holiday. Boy...it certainly was not nearly as busy as it usually is on Mondays.

Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c shortening (or butter)
1 c. white sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. peanut butter (we use natural)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 c. milk
4 cups quick oatmeal
6 oz chocolate or butterscotch chips.. we more or less wing this. :)

Mix in order of appearance.

Drop by spoonfuls on cookie sheet.
Bake 10-12 minutes at 350.

Enjoy them.
We enjoyed making them. :)

Expedition Ireland Review

Click here to visit Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett. Amanda has put together an excellent study on Ireland. Called Expedition Ireland we had ALOT of fun doing this. We took the week to do it you can find each day here: Day one, day 2-3 with our Irish meal day,and day 4-5.

Expedition Ireland is a great study, one that we've enjoyed doing. I can't say that we did everything in it, but we did a lot of it. We did most of the animals of the day, all of the geographic daily items, we practiced saying "prata, and diah duit", we enjoyed watching hurling, and learning about Irish hares. Just a lovely study...great for a curious five year old. :)

One of the things I like about these studies is that I'm not forced to do them a certain way. If I want to do something, but not something else...it doesn't affect the integrity of the unit. For instance... sheep...No interest in studying a sheep... but we did look up the place where those sheep came from. No biggie. We took a rabbit trail when we learned about the Irish hare and then came back to the study. it's all good.

Each day has an overall topic. Each day follows a similar plan. Geographic feature of the day, animal of the day, word of the day etc.

Day 1: Where on Earth is Ireland?
Day 2: The Places of Ireland
Day 3: A Bit of History
Day 4: Cool Things to Know about Ireland
Day 5: Fun and Games in Ireland


Full of child friendly graphics.
Lots of drawing.
Some math.
Lots of suggested reading. We got a ton of books out of the library...none of which were suggested, but they were what we had available. :) We had fun reading about leprechauns , and other such tales of Ireland. We learned that Ireland is a lad of music and storytellers. And we touched just a wee bit on the "troubles" of Ireland and how sad it is that they can't just agree to disagree about their differences.

I have to tell you that I got a copy of this study for my honest review of it. Seriously, St. Patrick's day is just around the corner, why not get this study and learn more of the people for whom this is their national holiday?

You can read what other people thought of this study here.

If you would like to hear more from Amanda Bennett, you will not want to miss the MidSouth Homeschool Convention in Memphis! Check out all the details on how you can win a FREE FAMILY REGISTRATION!! The contest will end at 4:00pm EST on February 19, 2011, so be sure to head on over there and enter.

They also have a bunch of $5 sales going on right now. Head on over here to learn more about that.

Ireland

We finished the study for Expedition Ireland today produced by Amanda Bennett Unit Studies. . Boy... we had fun doing this. I think it's funny. The lad has trouble sitting still, and keeps asking "are we done yet". BUT when asked what he thinks of Ireland and what we learned "I liked it mommy! Ireland is interesting".

We found this video while we were studying the Irish Hare for the Ireland study from Amanda Bennett Unit Studies. It made both of us laugh...watching this silly hare binkying. :

We played a game showing how a hare can turn really fast, and that's why hares can soon turn into too many. We had fun racing around the house and learning. We did this because one of the youtube links led to a hare being chased by some hawks and getting away from them because it zigged and zagged.

Today we found the longest river in Ireland, we made a brochure of places to visit, did an animal matching activity, and had fun looking at hare videos.

Twas a good day to learn a thing or two. :)

Irish Meal Day

Boy, the lad and I had fun today. Yesterday we did days 2 & 3 of Expedition Ireland put out by Amanda Bennett Unit Studies. We learned prata is potato, that Ireland has beautiful scenery and interesting stories. We had fun colouring their flag and learning about Burren and Crystal.

Instead of doing more studying of Ireland we decided to have a cooking Irish food day.

We started the day off with pancakes of course.

Here is an easy way to make thin pancakes:

---

4 oz/ 125g/ 1 cup plain flour
pinch of salt
2 eggs
1/2 pt/ 250ml/ 1 cup milk
1 tbsp melted butter

---

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend for about 30 seconds. The batter should then be allowed to stand for 30 minutes in a cool place. Heat a small pan over a medium heat. Grease with a little butter and wipe out with kitchen paper. Fry about 2 tbsp of batter at a time, swirling to cover the base of the pan. Keep them thin and there will be no need to turn. Serve rolled up with sugar.

We did two things with them. MOST we put cinnamon sugar on and rolled them up.
A few we added some gooseberry jam and rolled.
We learned we like the cinnamon sugar best and NOT to be shy with it either. :)

here the lad is learning to apply the cinnamon sugar.
Here I teach him how to roll it. He was a bit hestitant to do it himself as they were quite warm yet.
And the finished product...the cinnamon sugar ones in front, the jam ones behind.
We had thought about dusting them with icing sugar but "Mommy, I think plain is better."

Then off to go grocery shopping for the rest of the days meals....The lad looked hard for the buttermilk, and thought it funny that evaporated milk has a cow picture on the front of the can.

For lunch, due to hunger issues, we decided that the Irish part of our lunch would be GREEN salad. :) The rest we just ate as we wanted to. (sandwiches).

This afternoon we made

Irish Soda Bread

mix together:

4 cups bread flour

1 tbsp double action baking powder

¾ tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Add 2 c. buttermilk

Mix well

Knead 1 minute

Cut in half and form into two balls

Place on greased cookie sheet

cut an 'x' in the top of each ½ inch deep

cook 350 oven for 45-55 minutes.

We learned that if you subsitute whole wheat flour for white, adding more fluid a good idea.
That it is fun to alternate kneading bread.
That is it HARD for a five year to cut an "x" in the top of a ball of bread with a big knife.

the boy working hard at kneading
I neglected to take a picture of the finished product. Turned out a bit dry, but the inside was yummy. We'll do this again sometime.

I was HIGHLY intimidated by the thought of making candy and was VERY nervous that I would mess it up. BUT it worked!!!! I was delighted.
Grandmom's Irish Potatoes Candy

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups white sugar

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 1/2 cup evaporated milk

• 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, butter, evaporated milk, cream of tartar and salt. Mix well and bring to a boil. Cook to the soft ball stage at 234 degrees F (115 degrees C). A few drops will form a soft ball when dropped into cold water. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Add vanilla and beat until creamy and stiff. Roll into balls and shape like little potatoes. Roll each ball in cinnamon to coat, then press in pieces of chopped nuts to look like eyes. You can also dust with cocoa to simulate dirt.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 62 | Total Fat: 0.9g | Cholesterol: 3mg

They are pretty good. Hubby says they are kinda like fudge, but different. We were supposed to put nuts on them to look like potato eyes, but the lad nixed that idea and I didn't mind since I'm not a huge nuts in candy person anyways. :)

Oh... we also made cookies!

Irish Ginger Snaps

Ingredients

• 1 cup white sugar

• 1 egg

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 3/4 cup shortening

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon ground cloves

• 1 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Cream sugar, egg, salt and shortening together. Add flour, baking soda and spices. Mix well. Roll teaspoonfuls of dough into balls and roll the balls in sugar.

3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 5 to 6 minutes.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 87 | Total Fat: 4.5g | Cholesterol: 6mg

NOTE: in our oven... 15 minutes.

We spontaneously decided to invite gramma up to share our Irish meal. Apparently all the ladies at the bank wanted to come and share it as well. Gramma turned them down. :) Our Irish meal was ham, potatoes, and bread.
The brown furry guy in the forefront is "super Jeff". He's an all powerful rabbit who helps make all types of things. This time he helped make cookies! He was a VERY curious rabbit and got flour on his nose in the process. :) He isn't the lad's favourite stuffy, but he is a good comrade in arms. :)

Tuesday Learning - Feb 15

This was a typical Tuesday for us. Play for 20 minutes, work for 20 minutes, play for 30 minutes, work for 20 minutes and so forth. We had a lot of fun, and got a fair amount of learning done as well.

Today we did four pages in this book. Writing out ending sounds to words, matching words to pictures and so forth.

We worked on a couple of workbooks upstairs as well. Math, letters, matching and what not.

We continued to go through a Kumon math book for 4-5-6 year olds. We did another four pages.

We sorted through pencil crayons and sharpened them. The lad spent about 20 minutes working through Time4Learning. You can read my review of the program here.

And to finish off our learning time.. we went for a walk outside. We had fun pretending to be watching out for made up animals and how to avoid them. :)

Valentines and more

Different lapbooks etc.

Jesus Loves Me

Heart File Folder

Bible File Folder

Love file folder

achy breaky hearts

Homeschooling in Ontario

Rules to know

information to read through.

Letter of intent