Early American History Curriculum-- Week 1

Although all of you might not be interested in this topic I think I will use the blog and list out each of our assignments and books used. This way I will have a really neat memory and it will be ready for someone else to use too!

We are using a lot of readers, both small and chapter books. We are using Even Moor Pocket books for worksheets and hands on activities. I have a subscription to TEACHER FILE BOX for 12.99 a month I can download as much as I like-- I use it ALOT! It has been well worth the 12.99 IMHO....

WEEK 1 --Pilgrims (1620)

We started with the Pilgrims and their voyage to the New WORLD.

Books:
Mayflower Adventure (chapter book)
Three Young Pilgrims
The Pilgrim Boy
Sarah Morton
If You Sailed on the Mayflower
N.C. Pilgrims
Samuel Eaton

We used Pilgrims- Evan Moore Pocket Folders, I printed out all the pocket books and we are using various parts of them over 3 weeks of Pilgrims.

Vocabulary- used the vocab out of the pocket folders but are also using pictures of people and dates along with places for a really good weekly review of our year.

We watched William Bradford (NEST Video)

We made a paper diorama of the Mayflower.

We are using the Light and the Glory, reader and color book.

Assignment for Week 1--

Read chap 6-7 of the Light and the Glory
Do worksheet page 21-22

Read Plymouth Pioneers (chapter book)

My day of rest and relaxation....

So my wonderful mother in law... came on Saturday and rescued me!

She took my tired feet (desperately in need of a pedi, it have been, well a long time) to the nail salon...

Here are the pretties!

Before and after shots!

Next we headed to La Madeline's where I ate things so far gone from a diet food list that I actually ENDED UP IN FRANCE...

Croque-monsieur

Spinach Quiche

Chocolate croissant

YUMMO!!!

Next for the shopping... I was on a mission to find a new purse!

I have a large purse but inside the different compartments aren't enclosed... so everything falls to the bottom and YOU CANNOT GET TO ANYTHING! The reason I was carrying it was the keep the kids stuff in for church. So after trying numerous bags at Charming Charlies (love that store!) Vickie convinced me that the kids are old enough to carry their own stuff and to just get a pretty! It didn't take much convincing! No really I still wanted one big enough to carry my own Bible and notebook....

WE FOUND SO MANY BEAUTIFUL PURSES!!!!

We ended up with this one!!! ISN'T the color (which is not done justice in this shot, beautiful!)

Oh and I might have accidentally ended up with another one too! OOOPPPS. It was too pretty to leave at the store!

This is a beautiful gray soft purse--- this doesn't look as good either!

Thank you Vickie for a wonderful day (which included a diet coke from SONIC)

I felt relaxed and refreshed!

this is me the next day sportin' my new purse!

Yall don't see many pictures like this of me, because I DONT TAKE THEM. 

 This was a rare, rare occasion!

BTW... the sun glass thing takes care of "weird eye" situation!

Now back on the food and non coke bandwagon for me!

Are you questioning me?

I saw these questions on Lemonade Makin Mama, and thought they were fun.

I love answering questions that are both random and strange. I know that says something about me. Ahem.

1. If you could bring one character to life from your favorite book, who would it be?

Wow what a question... I guess it might be Miss Suzy, by Miriam Young. We read this book as little kids, she is a squirrel who lives in a tree and after her house got damaged by mean bad squirrels she finds her self living in an abandoned doll house in someones attic. Anyway, she seems so peaceful and a real Proverbs 31 kindof woman to me. You need to read the book I guess but I just wish I could be as calm and softspoken and kind as she was.

2. Where did you get your very first kiss? Hmmmm.. I cannot actually remember where my first kiss was! I can tell you that the first and only man I have ever kissed is my HUBBIE! So it was with him and I am betting it was on the property of Living Stones church in Alvin, but that is all I know for sure... I'll have to ask him!

3. How did you welcome in the New Year? We had the Eck family over for the entire day and we had so much fun! WE ate a lot, we played some games, we rang in the NEW YEAR! It was great.

4. What is your favorite Beatles song? hmmm. either Come Together or I Saw Her Standing There

5. Donuts: Overrated, underrated, or 'bout right? I think a good donut is underrated because it is the only dessert in the world that is a breakfast food only for the most part. I mean if it is that good of a donut it should be on the menu for dessert 24/7! I really dont enjoy donuts in the morning because it is usually too sweet, so if they were on dessert menus at restaurants maybe I would get them!

more for YOU to answer!

6. What is your favorite scripture?


7.  What do you put on your front door as seasons change, if anything:


8.  Baskin robbin... which 31 flavor?


9.  If you have to be on a diet and could choose ONE thing to eat and it NOT COUNT, what would it be?


10.  Money that comes into your household (dont think bills even if they are NECESSARY) what would you do with it?  You are FREE to choose, it doesnt have to be responsible at all!

Mark Driscoll on Twilight

Weekly Wrap up

Monday-- school, daddy still home but still got a lot done.

I went to the Garden Oaks Home School Support Meeting (GOHSSG) (?) That is a mouthful! I had a nice time and met quite a few ladies!

Tues- started off great with getting up, pancakes, dinner in the crock pot at the school table before 9:00, we had a pretty good day! 

I want to reiterate how much I love my crock pot and steamer.  I had the pork cooking all day and the potatoes I put in the steamer before I left for gymnastics and when I got home--- perfect baked potatoes!  I was able to fit three large potatoes in!

Emily started her first gymnastics class. She did really good!

My crock pot meal got tabled for Dave to do some work things and the kids and I drove thru Wendy's. We had a peaceful evening though!



Wed. started nice but quickly went down hill from there. I put a Bible movie on for the kids and asked them to fold laundry. Well 3 1/2 hours later and a visit from Daddy, the laundry got folded. We got a little school work done and left to work at the church. I updated all the kids charts from Word of Life and got postcards to send to those no longer coming. Then I helped the pastors wife scrub the floor from temper paint. It was really a good day because these are the small things I want to be able to do!

Thursday, Dave got up to go give blood really early...

Matt found a Shipleys coupon and asked if he paid for breakfast could we go and of course since we are working on him being kind--- we all got Shipley's!

I decided since we were out to do my errands, we ran to Staples and tried to go to the library, but they have changed times AGAIN! ARGGGG.

We went back home, did some school work and headed out for our Science at Amy's house. The kids did great, we made a cell model out of jello and candy!

(Pictures of this in another post)


We left Amy's and went to moms to let the kids swim, ate dinner and headed to our last activity of the day.. SKATING!



We met a bunch of friends at the skating rink for Christian Skate Night, it was a blast! I skated again, not as long as before, but I did!

THIS IS MY NEXT GOAL AFTER THE BREAST WALK!!!

Friday- we slept in a little, obviously we needed it after our Thursday! We started working on chores and have some discipline problems, the same as Wed! So daddy got called and the kids had to weed the outside flower beds! I don't know if it made much of an impression on them though, they seemed to enjoy it. HMMMM.



In our character study we learned about braveness, but for the story it was a chapter out of Missionary Stories with the Millers. It was about Gladys Aylward and how she led a large group of children through the mountains to the yellow river to escape the Japanese. So I am reading this chapter and literally tear up.. I stop and talk to my children about how these kids walked through the mountain for 12 days with little or no food, no shoes, little water, even making a human chain to get down the steepest parts of the mountain.... and we have fusses over cleaning our rooms full of shoes, clothes toys etc. I wasn't mean, I was sad.

I am hoping the kids were convicted and that God might bring this to their mind next time.

We started school after lunch and the rest of the day was just doing school and chores.

Friday night, we were planning on a Wii tournament, but the kids lost electronics so we went to see the bats! We have lived here for a year and a 1/2 and never done this!

And we ended our day at SWIRL!  YUMMO!

Emily @ Gymnastics

And that is my girl!

She was excited to go on the high beam today for the first time!

 She also got to go on the springboard and flip over landing flat on her back. Doesn't sound like much but as she flew over the pad and landed I held my breath.  I will try to get pics of that next time!

What I plan to happen this weekend...

I am tired.

Enough said.

I plan on being refreshed this weekend... because my wonderful mother in law who should be reading this... is going to come and take me to get a pedicure and shop for a purse.

End of message.

A journey of a 1000 miles starts with the first step...

Or so an ancient philosopher says!


So Dave was saying thank you for breakfast and for staying up late washing his pants for work--- cuz we missed the dry cleaning pick up! And I said thank you for getting up by 7:00 so that we all start our day earlier and I get to the table by 9:00! I said we did good this morning!  Only like 5000 more days to go!

I kind of thought that seemed like a low number because the years of home schooling I have ahead of me looms on and on (I am not complaining it is just a fact that I have a long way to go on my journey)

SO Of course I did the math.

Assuming I school Emily my youngest for another 11 years @ 289 days a year (this is just an approx number), that equals

3178

Wow. Much less than 5000!

I was instantly encouraged!

I wondered of course how many years I have been home schooling though

Kaitlin is 11 and I started when she was 4 sooo  (really I started before this but using actual curriculum)

7 X 289 (again just an approx)=2023

But I had already home schooled Sarah Jean Jumping Bean for two years prior to Kaitlin so that would be a total of

2601


So I have almost home schooled as long as I am gonna home school!

Wowzers!


How about you, how long is your journey?

BTW.. I know that OUR home schooling journey will not end the second Emily graduates... there is still much to teach!

My tongue...

"A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit." ---Proverbs 15:4

I think God took a silver tray from HEAVEN itself and served this scripture up to me!

The definition of perversness-acting in opposition to what is proper or what is desired by others.

I am often so harsh with the kids, just my tone.  I know it and I even hear myself doing it and cant seem to stop myself.  I mean I absolutely work on it and sometimes I take my deep breath and control it but a lot of the time I dont.  I know how I speak to them is NOT DESIRED BY THEM.  Nothing they have done deserves my sharp tongue.  Of course I justify it by saying they should have listened or they know better.  Well I SHOULD LISTEN and I know better!

I also justify by telling myself if the kids only knew how often I refrain from ugliness!  As if that is justification!  That is crazy! 

I need to hold on to the scriptures that I find and that speak to my heart about my tongue... but in the midst of a situation I dont seem too!  I need them deep in my heart so that is what pours out... I need to meditate on them and really study them to get them that deep in my heart!

My other verse I love is

 Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.   ---Col 4:6

and again this is my prayer...

Do you often use a tone you wish you hadnt, or answered sharper than you intended, or had a little more sarcasm than needed....?

The day began and the day ended...

The day begin with wonderful intentions.

A list of errands, a plan to clean out our storage in Arcola and a husband who just is still not feeling up to par, but we went ahead anyway!

We ate breakfast--- found whole grain pop tarts- all three kids LOVED them. YEAH!

We had a whole list of errands...

Dave got the wasp- with hair spray, so no yucky wasp spray needed!

We got stuff mailed and deposited, picked up and delivered!

WE had a nice lunch at Double Daves!

We found shoes for Matt Matt!

We finished up most of the errands and hubbie was feeling worse and worse so we ended up at the ER!

He had been once last Saturday and went again last night. He is simply have trouble with his breathing. He has ashma but this was worse, his inhaler wouldn't help. So we went back.

Well they were like okay we are going to literally run every test in the book and they did!

Some of his tests showed lab results that appeared to be clotting in his leg so of course the concern was a blood clot had gone to his lungs. Well after more tests they finally ruled that out and sent him home, he was feeling better after a breathing treatment and some more meds.

I personally think all my family and friends prayed away any clots! Ya cant convince me otherwise! He does need to lose weight,of course we both do, but he is working on it already and I think he is down about 25 lbs! We need to weigh him again here and see.

So my day started one way and ended another... but since I am still happy with the ending, it's all good!

Emily "ism's"

this must be posted for my sake...

Yesterday in Bible we were talking about Jacob and Esau and I asked why was it important who came out first... Emily said because they got to see the outside first.

Then I was talking about putting a safe guard on your mouth and asked why that was important and she said.... you know poison, carbon dioxide.

Then today we were talking about Abraham again and were reviewing the story of Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah and I asked something and Emily said is that when his wife turned around and turned into a salt jar?


SHE CRACKS ME UP!

Wii are here to play...

We are investing in a Wii Fit board! I am very excited about this. Now I am still not at the right POUNDAGE to use it but the kids certainly are! I plan to implement this baby daily! The kids will have 20-30 minutes on the Wii daily- mandatory! Playing a physical game!

We bought The Biggest Loser Wii.. of course we did! BTW- Bob's birthday was this week, Happy birthday Bob.

On this game you can weigh, set up your own fitness routine, compete against a Biggest Loser contestant and they even have a place for a food journal!

We also bought Get Moving Family Fitness which has a lot of different sports (including running and volleyball). So far it is a blast- although we have borrowed Becky's board and she accidentally didn't take it home so we have it for two more days now! WE have found one on Craig's List so we are waiting to hear. If we don't get one by the end of Saturday we are walking into a store and plunking down full price! ARGGG.

I also want Wii Resort- my other friend has it and we are going to borrow it to play to make sure we like it because it is on the expensive side and you have to get another adaptor for the controller.

So Wii plan to get fit around these parts!!!!  This along with some classes at the YMCA and walking once it is cooler is our Physical E of choice around here.