Weekly Wrap Up- Week 30 ---- mostly American History---week 12, 13, 14 and 15

We are doing a whole bunch of history this week! We decided to get a little caught up and since we have decided it shouldn't take us 4 years to get through American history we should step it up! So we are doing most of the revolution in one week!  Plus other stuff too!

From Lexington, to Valley Forge  LOTS happened!!!

We are using basically three books as spines.

George Washington's World

ABeka history text book (grade )  I am not a fan of Abeka as a complete home schooling curriculum -- we are not textbook people, but the textbook, in this case, had things laid out nicely so we decided  it could help us as a guide

and a book that Amy found called A Child's Story of America from Christian Liberty Press.. it is pretty good

We also used the Veritas Press flash cards to review from Jamestown on...

We are continuing with The Light and the Glory and the workbook.

We have watched Drive Thru History

read these additional literature titles

We have read poems, seen pictures and examined life as they KNEW it then!

Ralph Waldo Emmerson-The Concord Hymn

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,

Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
Spirit, that made those spirits dare,
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.

DID you know that Emmersons grandfather fought AT the battle of Lexington and Concord, the family manse was located right next to the bridge and Emmerson wrote the poem while living there!  COOL!



WE used this color book-- which I HIGHLY recommend as the quotes are amazing! This is not a DOVER color book it is BEllerophon.  I found it at Texas Art Supply... very good color book!

We have done copy work on John Adam Quotes, the Declaration of Independence, George Washington and colored and worked on going over the 13 colonies...

We worked on the presidents.. memorization of name and presidency. And some national landmarks!

We played Professor Noggin American history game for Presidents.

and we finished our Presidents Day lapbook thingy (yes I know it's late!)

People that we focused on:
George Washington
John Hancock
John Adams
Paul Revere
Thomas Jefferson
Ben Franklin
Nathan Hale
Benedict Arnold
General Cornwallis
Samual Adams
Swamp Fox
Betsy Ross


Incidents we focused on:
Intolerable Acts
Stamp Act
Sugar Act
Boston Tea Party
Boston Massacre
Paul Revere's ride
1st and 2nd Continental Congress
Signing of Declaration of Independance
Battle at Lexington- The Shot Heart Round the World
Battle at Concord-
Bunkerhill
spies and drawing and quartering
flag day
Washingon crossing the Deleware/ winning at Trenton
Battle of Saratoga
Valley Forge






Go check out what others did this week at Weird Unsocialized Home Schoolers!

Through the Years Thursday-- Emily Elizabeth Thompson

My baby girl is turning 8. Why won't it stop?

These area few of my favorits through the years of Emily- who I could not imagine my life without.

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Works for Me Wednesday...

I am joining up with WE ARE THAT FAMILY for Works for Me Wednesday.

My tip I got from my friend Amy--- there was conversation on face book one day about what your least favorite chore to do around the home was and mine was folding socks.  I can never find matches... it is so very frustrating.  So Amy posted and said a friend of hers had this same problem and she solved it be buying each family member a "lingerie" bag for the laundry.  Each person kept the bag in their room on a  peg and put their socks in them as they took them off.  Then on laundry day the bag was tossed into the washer. When it was done.. the person took the bag and dumped their socks in their drawer-

WOW.

It works for me!

Ours are like these only white...

 I put our first initial on each little plastic piece on the bag to easily see whose was whose.  I also learned you need to tuck the pull string INTO the bag before washing or it gets tangled up, which isn't fun.  BUT other than that... it works for me!

We have only done it twice so far so I will review again in a few weeks... just to REALLY test the theory- I have concerns of the socks actually MAKING it into the bag to begin with!



The Great Spring Purge....this is the starting list anyway

It is that time again people... spring cleaning.  I.E. the Great PURGE!

I love purging.  I love spring cleaning.  I LOVE throwing stuff away- but alas I WILL box things
up to go to the thrift store.  I promise!  This will take me a number of weeks... but I like to get it

all OUT there on the world wide web for some accountability!  Oh and I LOVE using the

scratch thru font!  SO. MUCH. FUN.

What are some of your spring cleaning tasks???  This list is all purging for the most part, I need to create a seperate list for actual cleaning things that are not the NORM around here.  I am sure there is ONE of those on the internet.. right!

To Be Done list:


girls room
headboard for Kate
bulletin board on back of shelf
clean out books
make list of books that she has (number in series)
finish shelving in girls room- get MOST out of space
buy more boxes for organizing
new over the door shoe holder (3) over sized ones



living room

move TV to living room
take down curtains and dry clean
take off couch cushions and dry clean
clean under couch curtains
hang pegs behind door for kids bags

school room

move desks in school room
paint shelf black -- possible move shelf to bathroom
redo bookshelves in school room- revamp organization etc.
move out books no longer needed
change out posters etc
set up reading area

clothing

go through kids clothing
take out MOST winter!
seasonal clothes- jackets, rain jackets, boots, gloves etc  make sure are all in drawer
store seasonal things that I need to keep
send clothes to people who can use them
donate old blankets, sheets torn towels to SPCA


shoes-

seasonal
fit
need



Bags

go through bags
purses
backpacks- looking for tears
unwanted
unnecessary


books:

cull through books that can be packed for other years
go through multiple copies of books that I don't need
get rid of books that are for younger kids
go through curriculum that I KNOW we will not use
go through fiction books
go through Christian living, helps, home schooling books
buy new book case for school room
rearrange bookcases once the new ones have been brought in
reorganize by subjects: History, science, fiction, current read alouds for the year, extra reading

Toys:

throw away any that are broken
find ways to organize what we kept
Get rid of unused, unwanted, baby, or repeat items


my room:

hang pegs in bathroom for towels
hang towel rod
replace curtains with white ones
replace boxes on shelves with IKEA ones that fit
redo closet, hang second rod
clean out bottom of closet
put shelf in hallway- use for additional storage


Personal items:

go through and organize, cull and find a place for
papers
keepsakes
go through organization paper box and organize that!
make an address book
finish my home management binder

Furniture:

fix anything in need of fixing
arrange to use more functionally


Decor:

go through general house decor and get rid of anything that is not longer "ME",
get rid of stored decor that I no longer want
decide on paint colors and work toward being able to paint
re go through stored boxes in storage- make sure everything is labeled correctly stored.


Supplies:

get rid of multiple supplies that are unneeded, i.e. staplers, hole punches (do we need 3 or 4?)
organize current supplies
update stock (i.e. need mailers, stamps, staples, rubber bands etc)
update cleaning supplies
get a holder for underneath kitchen counter
get a holder for underneath bathroom counter
buy clear container to hold additional cleaning supplies


Pictures:

organize
scan in what I want
get negatives in one place
get a back up of current photos
scan scrap book pages and determine what I am keeping
organize current photo files and archive if needed
order pics that I have been wanting to order
change out a few pics of family in the frames in the living room OR add frames





DVDs

determine if they are scratched beyond being usable
alphabetize them
separate school, computer games, CDs from movies
return any that I know are not mine
put all CDs on computer-



Music on Computer-


make song list for IPOD
change movies out on the IPODS
update syncs between IPODS and both computers



Misc THINGS:

fix things that have been broken that I keep meaning to "get to"
send clothes to menders
if keeping find a home for it!



Vehicle:

clean out suburban
take shots, post on Craig's list etc.
replenish cleaning supplies for truck
get carpet cleaned in both vehicles




Bills and banking:

find better way to organize paper that I need to keep for a while
set up automatic bill pay for bills we can
change automatic savings on bank account
start account for kids
cull through stored "papers" and shred what is not needed anymore


Electronics:

go through wires, plugs, chargers and get rid of unneeded
organized kids electronics- find common place to charge
get games in one spot
buy recharging station for Wii
buy box for Misc Wii items
cull through games- sell if do not use
buy electronics cleaner and clean keyboards, screens, dust inside
find new alarm clock that fits needs better- LOUD!

One Thousand Gifts... a practice in Gratitude-5

151. for new beginnings
152. for tax refunds
153. for finding a swim suit that makes my daughter smile and feel good about herself
154. for younger brothers who still have TONS of energy
155. for coming home after vacationing
156. for routine
157. for doctors who see things and Gods hand on the situation
158. for flex spending accounts for health insurance
159. for resale shops
160. for small things making a big difference
161. for a pedi, mani with my big girl!
162. for shopping for flip flops!
163. for people seeing that you matter
164. for new shaving cream brands that ROCK.
165. for the fact that I get to teach my eldest to shave..... reminding myself that I AM thankful.
166. for Kleenex
167. for new glasses for hubbie
168. for sickness taking a break at this house!
169. for scrambled eggs and toast
170. for dinner you don't have to make
171. for extra large capacity washer and dryer
172. for shorts for the eldest that fit, are long enough and inexpensive enough!!! 
173. epiphany's
174. for a day off from going anywhere
175. for Advil!
176. for moments where we "see" our self
177. for sharing a bible story with the kids and seeing AWE.
178. for CARMAN-- love his music!
179. for rice makers. 
180. for a son to take out the trash
181. for instant play on Netflix

American History- Week 10 and 11

So last week for history we learned about the Boston Tea Party!

Here is an online jigsaw puzzle of the Boston Tea Party!

Boston Tea Party Gazette- this is neat, written like a real newspaper.

The kids worked out of their workbooks: The Light and the Glory

We read Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Here is an interactive map of Paul Revere's ride- kindof neat...


The kids also got to watch Johnny Tremain.

Next week we are doing almost  FULL week of history!  YIKES!  We will do history on Mon, Tues, Wed and Friday!  So that will be a FULL post!

Ringa--- not to be confused with Rango.

So the kids wanted to name the pet gecko Ringo, I said it was too similar to the movie coming out... they do not feel the same way. SOOO Ringo it was until Kaitlin decided that some spores the gecko is sporting means it is a female. SOOO RINGA it is.

Officially.

Here she is!

Ringa is a leopard gecko.  

She is much smaller than our flat tail gecko- Buddy was!

She also climbs a whole lot more which is fun, but she is still very slow- which is why she make a good pet!

Weekly Wrap Up- Week 29

Monday-

We got errands done- donut Monday, work out at YMCA, eye glass adjustment and resale shop-- where I scored on some books!  LOVE guilt free errand Monday!!!!

Got home and had lunch, then busted out the school work!

We got Bible done- David and Saul
FLL 2- we designed and wrote postcards to send.

I am very frustrated with the kids and their INABILITY to remember what a part of speech is.  I think I am going to start each of them on Easy Grammar in addition to our other stuff.  So to the Homeschool store I
go!

Writing with Ease- we got caught up on two days from last week and did today's
Math
handwriting
ETC
reading- Matt started Skylark, Kate started Ginger Pye and Emily started The Josefina Story Quilt

Kate worked on IEW

And by this time we had to scoot to make it to art on time!

It was a good day!

OH and the kids got a new class pet.. let me introduce the leopard gecko!



Tuesday

We got A LOT done today- only problem is that I had to TALK all day to keep the kids on track!  THEY were NOT very focused!

We did Bible
handwriting
Math
ETC
Kate finished lesson 6 in IEW- stupid prepositions!  I do not like writing and I am NO good at it... so we have problems!

The kids continued reading...

Matt started The Indian in the Cupboard

Emily read two level 3 books and LOVED them!  YEAH!
She worked out of a workbook- basically busy work but we need to keep her occupied these days!

Each child had 20 minutes on the Wii doing exercise...

We also spent a little while outside and Emily jumped rope!

Wednesday...

I ended up not taking Dave to work which is always nice!  We got school started early, of course chores weren't done--- but that is a TOPIC for another day!

The kids got math, handwriting and ETC done.

Kate and I had a little disagreement about what it means to COMPLETE an assignment so I pulled a public school on her and told her she had till Friday at 3:00 to hand me in each of her assignments for IEW, typed, stapled with ALL work corresponding to the final draft attached!  We shall see.

Matt did a leg writing assignment... I told him he had to use three adjectives and three adverbs!

Emily completed 2 books for LLATL.  I have started skipping a few things in the book that REALLY she is over and I know she knows!  BUT I am determined to finish this book- however I am pushing through quickly--- ready to get to the next book.  This feels like First Language Lessons--- I just want to see the end!  :) Don't get the wrong impression.. I really do like the curriculum a lot- I just tend to put it on the "if we get to it" list of schoolwork---- WHICH is a big mistake!  So it has moved to right under BIBLE and math!

Matt has REALLY been reading this week and finished the Indian in the Cupboard and started Ginger Pye!  He is a reading machine!  I KNOW he is not getting some vocabulary and tends to mis pronounce some words but I let that go in his "free" reading time- I don't want to push him.  We work on vocab and stuff in other areas- PLUS I know the more he reads.... the larger his vocabulary will be.  I think I am going to start Wordly Wise with him and Kate also!  THOUGHTS anyone???

Thursday..

We started out our day by going to IT'Z- think Chuck E Cheese but a little more older kid than young.  It is cool- they had a grand opening special where you pay $5.00 per person and get all you can eat buffet, all you can drink soda and a $5.00 play card!  So you cant really beat that!

We went to Goodwill beforehand and we found Emily's PRINCESS dress for her class!  So pretty and princess'sy!  I know that is not a word but it is!

We came back to my moms house and got some school work done!

Math, ETC, handwriting, Writing with Ease, LLATL- we are more than half way done now and going MUCH faster (that happens when you ACTUALLY DO THE WORK EVERY DAY!)

Matt is now reading Mary Poppins- I cannot keep the boy in books!  Kate started Lydia- which is a 1770 historical fiction book.

We ate dinner at Fuddruckers and went to Christian Skate night... so it was a good day for the most part!

Friday....

We did Princess class- post to follow...

that was basically all we did besides visit with friends which was nice as always!

It was a pretty good week!

I wants.... part 2

I like THIS from Pier One

These black and white balls---

I really want this!

I think I am chickening out on painting that wall the blue color!  I think I will just use it in accents of my stuff.  The Nester wrote a post the other day on RISK... and how people wont take risks when it comes to decorating- however I FEEL that maybe the person who feels the SWORDFISH on her wall was a GOOD risk... might not have the same feelings as I do towards decor.  :)  I am just sayin'!

No really.. I think there should be some risk, but the wall is kind of freaking me out right now.

I am always SOOOOO afraid to pick a color to go with- I mean what if I don't like it again after a while.

Decorating is like road work- by the TIME they get a road DONE, it's time to start working on it again.
Same goes for a room.....but I am not good like that!  Even though my MIND knows that what I buy or HOW I decorate is not going to be the forever.. I just cant seem to make that leap.  I also have this weird vibe that we aren't going to be in that house for maybe as long as I think we are so I hate to invest.  DON'T get me wrong on the vibe---- I know NOTHING... and there are ZERO plans.  Like I said it is just a VIBE.

So anyway... for now we are an impasse on the paint, although I still want to paint everything tan and worry about accent walls LATER!  So that is that.  Big painting party at my house VERY SOON... wanna come!

Kate's art work

So mom and dad helped get Kate into an art class that is really close at to our home at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. The class Kaitlin is taking is a cartooning class.... Kate's current passion!

 She cannot bring work home from her class- they have an art show at the end of the semester. But here is some other art work she has been working on....

On the future one I love the glass like on the Jetson's!

Princess with a Purpose- Week 1

I found Princess with Purpose a while ago and really wanted to go through it with Emily--- this is really the LAST year that we can use it... after this she will really be too big. I wish I had found it earlier- but oh well we will go through it now. Churches do this program really big- with skits and stages and expensive week long camps- but we are just going to do the basics and have some fun.

We invited three other friends to join us...and met Friday for the first time!

We are using the kids activity book...

The DVD which has 5 (30) minute sessions- one for each section of the book.

We are doing a craft/ activity each week to reinforce what we are learning.

The girls appeared to enjoy it and get something out of it.. in fact I keep saying to Emily..."What would a TRUE FOREVER princess do?" and she really seems to change her attitude or think about what she could do differently! YEAH!

We have four more weeks and will have a special BANQUET on the last week and the girls will earn their crowns!

God, learning with friends and a theme.... I am happy!