Solar System Balloon Project

The Lighthouse School for Boys Solar System

The boys had to make the Solar System out of balloons, for their first Astronomy project. It was fun for them. They've been trying to get me to let them do it for a couple of weeks, now, but we didn't have the right supplies handy, and then none of us had enough air to get the balloons blown up. We had t borrow my Sister's balloon blower-upper. LOL ;)

Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars,

 Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto

(yes, we included Pluto ~ the book told us to.)

The Sun

Jupiter

Saturn

Little Bitty Pluto

I'm kinda glad they are done with it, though. It took more of my help than I'd originally thought I'd have to give. But, it was fun.

1 Corinthians 13 ~ A New Twist

I found this version of 1Corinthians 13 on the Heart of the Matter Online blog. I've seen it used for our daily lives and for our marriage, but this one was new to me. I love it.

1 Corinthians 13 for Homeschool Moms

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and teach my children Latin conjugations, Chinese and Portuguese, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal, and no matter what I say, they will not hear me.

If I have the gift of prophecy, and know my children’s bents and God’s plan for their lives, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and am the keeper of the teacher’s editions and solutions manuals, and if I have all faith, so as to move mountains, and even keep up with my giant piles of laundry and dishes, but do not have love, I am nothing, even if all the people at church think I’m Supermom.

And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and my formal dining room gets turned into a schoolroom and our family vacations look more like educational fieldtrips, and if I surrender my body to be burned, never having time to get my nails done, put makeup on or even take a bath, but do not have love, it profits me nothing, because all my family cares about is the expression on my face, anyway.

Love is patient with the child who still can’t get double-digit subtraction with borrowing, and kind to the one who hasn’t turned in his research paper. It is not jealous of moms with more, fewer, neater, more self-directed, better-behaved or smarter children. Love does not brag about homemade bread, book lists, or scholarships and is not arrogant about her lifestyle or curriculum choices. It does not act unbecomingly or correct the children in front of their friends. It does not seek its own, trying to squeeze in alone time when someone still needs help; it is not provoked when interrupted for the nineteenth time by a child, the phone, the doorbell or the dog; does not take into account a wrong suffered, even when no one compliments the dinner that took hours to make or the house that took so long to clean.

Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness or pointing out everyone else’s flaws, but rejoices with the truth and with every small step her children take in becoming more like Jesus, knowing it’s only by the grace of God when that occurs.

Love bears all things even while running on no sleep; believes all things, especially God’s promise to indwell and empower her; hopes all things, such as that she’ll actually complete the English curriculum this year and the kids will eventually graduate; endures all things, even questioning from strangers, worried relatives, and most of all, herself.

Love never fails. And neither will she. As long as she never, never, never gives up.

This was written by Misty Krasawski on Heart of the Matter Online   Be sure and check out her blog and the one I found this on.

2010 Schoolwork List

I am about to order our new schoolwork! I can hardly wait! Lord willing, I'll be able to order this stuff next week.

• God's Design for Sex Series ~ I want to be able to teach the boys what they need to know, When they need to know, in a reletively smooth way. These books are excellent for that.
• 4th Grade Living Books Curriculum ~ Lane and Jacob will be doing LBC together. It is structured for the age group of 8-11, which will be their ages. They will be studying the Civil War in American History, the Middle Ages in World History, Astronomy(Apologia) for Science, Poetry, Music, Art, Shakespeare (Midsummer Night's Dream), Bible, Copywork, Timelines, Nature Studies, and Language Arts. Blake can also sit in on a lot of the reading.
• An Extra Language Arts Grammer Book ~ The Language Arts Books are consumable, so I'll need one for each of them.
• Nature Notebooks (2)  ~ These are for their Nature Studies.
• Christian Liberty Nature Books Set ~ These were recommended for the Nature Studies.
• Spelling Through Copywork ~ The one thing I wasn't thrilled about with the LBC, was their spelling. So, I'll be getting this for Jacob. It's words that are more for his level.
• Pictures in Cursive Primer (2) ~ Lane has been struggling with his cursive writing since before I pulled him out of PS, so, I'll have both of them do this book, to learn their cursive letters.
• Pictures in Cursive A (2) ~ When Lane and Jacob have gottentheir letters down, we'll move on to this book.
• Learning How to Learn ~ This book teaches how to learn from Reference Books. I thought it would be a good thing for Lane, this year.
• Manners for Mealtime ~ What little boy DOESN"T need to learn Table Manners?
• Words of the Week Volume 1 ~ I thought this might be intersting for the who family.
• Egermeier's Bible ~ This is a Picture ible that I want for Blake (and then Landon). It has a ton of Bible stories in it.
• Natural Speller ~ This is the Spelling Program I want for Lane.
• Teach You Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons ~ This is for Blake. He's so excited to get to learn to read. He's already learning to sound out the letters to make words. He's so proud! He can't wait till he read a whole book by himself.
• Math U See ~Primer Set ~ This is for Blake
                        Blocks (both Sets) ~ These are for the Math Lessons. The Lessons are based on these.
                        Skip Count CD ~ This will be fun for Blake to learn skip counting.
                        Gamma Set (includes 2 student packs) ~ This is for Lane and Jacob. They will be doing Multiplication. Lane is doing much better, but when I pulled him out of 4th grade, he was struggling with multiplication. This will give him more time to get it right. Jacob will be ready for this by the time we start it, so I decided to have them do it together.

I will also need to order supplies for the Astronomy Science Work, and pay for a yearly subscription to Classical Archives for the music they will need for the Music Studies. Paying for the subscription will be cheaper than trying to find the music elsewhere.

All in all, it won't be a cheap year, but it won't be too expensive (considering I have 4 boys). But, many of the things on the list, I won't have to buy anymore. And the other stuff probably won't have to be bought again for at least a couple of years, or three.

Check it Out

Check out this blogpost. It's very insightful.
http://maineberrypatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/but-what-about-socialization.html

The Question of Socialization ~ From a Another Angle

I continually get asked this question by somany people. Why do you Homeschool your boys? Don't you want them to have Socialization Skills?

So, I *borrowed* this from   http://witcherfarms.blogspot.com/  I thought it was funny, and exactly what my take on SOCIALIZATION is. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did.
 
What about socialization? (from another angle)

Two women meet at a playground, where their children are swinging and playing ball. The women are sitting on a bench watching. Eventually, they begin to talk.

W1: Hi. My name is Maggie. My kids are the three in red shirts -- helps me keep track of them.

W2: (Smiles) I'm Terri. Mine are in the pink and yellow shirts. Do you come here a lot?

W1: Usually two or three times a week, after we go to the library.

W2: Wow. Where do you find the time?

W1: We home school, so we do it during the day most of the time.

W2: Some of my neighbors homeschool, but I send my kids to public school.

W1: How do you do it?

W2: It's not easy. I go to all the PTO meetings and work with the kids every day after school and stay real involved.

W1: But what about socialization? Aren't you worried about them being cooped up all day with kids their own ages, never getting the opportunity for natural relationships?

W2: Well, yes. But I work hard to balance that. They have some friends who are homeschooled, and we visit their grandparents almost every month.

W1: Sounds like you're a very dedicated mom. But don't you worry about all the opportunities they're missing out on? I mean they're so isolated from real life -- how will they know what the world is like -- what people do to make a living -- how to get along with all different kinds of people?

W2: Oh, we discussed that at PTO, and we started a fund to bring real people into the classrooms. Last month, we had a policeman and a doctor come in to talk to every class. And next month, we're having a woman from Japan and a man from Kenya come to speak.

W1: Oh, we met a man from Japan in the grocery store the other week, and he got to talking about his childhood in Tokyo. My kids were absolutely fascinated. We invited him to dinner and got to meet his wife and their three children.

W2: That's nice. Hmm. Maybe we should plan some Japanese food for the lunchroom on Multicultural Day.

W1: Maybe your Japanese guest could eat with the children.

W2: Oh, no. She's on a very tight schedule. She has two other schools to visit that day. It's a system-wide thing we're doing.

W1: Oh, I'm sorry. Well, maybe you'll meet someone interesting in the grocery store sometime and you'll end up having them over for dinner.

W2: I don't think so. I never talk to people in the store -- certainly not people who might not even speak my language. What if that Japanese man hadn't spoken English?

W1: To tell you the truth, I never had time to think about it. Before I even saw him, my six-year-old had asked him what he was going to do with all the oranges he was buying.

W2: Your child talks to strangers?

W1: I was right there with him. He knows that as long as he's with me, he can talk to anyone he wishes.

W2: But you're developing dangerous habits in him. My children never talk to strangers.

W1: Not even when they're with you?

W2: They're never with me, except at home after school. So you see why it's so important for them to understand that talking to strangers is a big no-no.

W1: Yes, I do. But if they were with you, they could get to meet interesting people and still be safe. They'd get a taste of the real world, in real settings. They'd also get a real feel for how to tell when a situation is dangerous or suspicious.

W2: They'll get that in the third and fifth grades in their health courses.

W1: Well, I can tell you're a very caring mom. Let me give you my number--if you ever want to talk, give me call. It was good to meet you.

I also fell in love with this Comic! It's hilarious! It's hard to read, and I don't know how to make it bigger, so I'll paraphrase.

Luann had asked her parents if she could homeschool, like Jennifer Love Hewitt and Whoopi Goldberg, etc...., but they said that she'd miss the BENEFITS of SOCIAL INTERACTION!

Luann and her friend obviously did not agree! lol I love it!

Teaching Blake to Read

I'm so excited! I recently decided to order this book and give it a try. "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" It cost me less than $15.00. I figured that if it worked, then I just saved myself $150.00 ~ not having to buy what I'd originally considered for Blake. If it doesn't work, I'm only out less than $15.00. Sounded like a good deal to me!

Each lesson has new sounds that are introduced. The first lesson introduces the sounds of M and S. By Lesson 17, they are learning the TH sound.

As the lessons progress, they begin to read words. I like how they make the silent letters smaller that the ones that make sounds. To me, it makes it less confusng, that way.

By the end of the book, they are reading whole pages! I can' wait to get started! Blake is pretty excited, too. He wants to read so bad. LOL

I'll let you know when we get started on this. It may be a few weeks, yet. Ther is some other things that we're working on at the moment. As we progress with it, I'll post how it's going.

HAPPY HOMESCHOOLING!!!