School is Coming to a Close....But We're Still Going to be Busy!!!

Well, a lot has happened this School Year! We moved! We had Co-op Classes, twice. We joined 4H. We helped Nanny make her Garden!   School is almost over for the year, but the boys will continue to learn throughout the summer. There will be plenty of yard work and gardening to do, plus 4H meetings and other fun things!!  

 

Planting Green Beans in the Garden!

 

The boys enjoyed planting the seeds. Besides the Green Beans, they also will be in charge of their own plants. Jacob planted some Spinach, Blake planted Lettuce, and Landon planted Carrots. Nanny planted Cucumbers, and Lane will be helping take care of those.

We had an extra Pepper Plant, that wouldn't fit in the Garden, so I bought a Pot for it. I also bought a Grape Tomato Plant and a pot. Also, I got three different Herbs (Sweet Mint, Lemon Balm, and Chocolate Mint). I am so excited to try things with the Herbs. If they do well, I may add others. 

 

It looks like they will do fine. In just a few days, they have flourished! Plus, they are getting PLENTY of water, right now! It's been raining, off and on for a few days!

 

The boys enjoyed their first 4H Meeting. One of our Homeschool Moms from the group (SCCHEA) is the head of this group. Lane and her son have gotten to know each other quite well, and she asked if we'd like to join and let the boys run for office positions. We agreed, and Lane become the Vice President to her son's President, and Jacob become the Treasurer. Blake found out that the younger kids could run for a position so he decided to run for Reporter AND Recreational Leader! Ack!! Reporter, I can handle. I think he just has to come up with little things to put in the Newsletter, and I have to help him with that. No biggie! But Rec Leader???? He gets to plan ALL of the Field Trips!! Because over half the kids ran for this position, and the others were the only ones who could vote, (and Blake had the most Siblings NOT running) he got it. Sigh!! I hope I have time to do it all! He was allowed to "hire" and assistant, so he picked the one boy that, I personally thought, should have gotten it. Maybe it will be a great experience for him.

 

We planted the Garden on Saturday Night and Monday. By the next Saturday, the boys' special plants were starting to grow. The boys found some cool things, as well. A Butterfly forming and an Inchworm on the potted plants. We also have Wheat in the Yard. We had spread some hay over the mud in the yard, and some of it sprouted out Wheat! The boys are ecstatic, because their Great, Great Uncle told them they could turn it into Gum after it ripens! SO, hopefully they can talk Poppaw into leaving a few Stalks to grow.

  The morning I took the pictures above this one, the Green Beans were all curled up and coming out of their seeds. 5 hours later, the boys were amazed at how much they had grown! They are enjoying watching the garden grow!  

 

Jacob turned 12, a couple of months ago. Our rule is they have to be 12 before they are allowed to Push Mow. I figure that's a good age where they should be both mature enough and strong enough. Jacob enjoyed his first mowing experience! He would have done the entire back pasture, by pushing, if Poppaw hadn't gotten out the riding mower! LOL!!

 

School may be almost over, for the summer, but there will still be lots of learning going on around here!!!

 

And when school starts back up in August?..... Whew!

 

Lane will be in HIGHSCHOOL!!! He has decided he wants to join the SCCHEA Basketball Team, as well!

Jacob will be in 7th Grade. I wish I could find him a CHEAP Art Class.

Blake will start 3rd Grade. He has been invited to join a Robotics Club, as well! He is VERY excited!

And my Baby?

Landon, who is 6 today, will be in the First Grade! But, he still likes to cuddle with Momma, so I'm okay!

 

Stay tuned for more Summer Adventures with the Lighthouse School for Boys!!!

I'll leave you with ONE of my favorite Scriptures!

Deuteronomy 6:7-9

  7) You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
8) You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
  9) You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
       

Tree Cutting

The boys' Early Morning School Lesson, today, was to watch Poppaw, Lane, and Nanny Cut down a tree. The tree was at Nanny and Poppaw's house. We had to get it cut down, this week, since it was in the way. Poppaw cut it, Nanny pulled it down with the truck, and Lane helped wherever he could. Jacob, Blake, Landon, and Cousin Isaac watched from the Deck. I didn't think to start taking pictures until AFTER Poppaw was being a Monkey in the tree! Awww! So sad!

 

 

 

 

My Dad caught me taking the Pictures, so gave me a big Grin!

 

Cutting sections off, so it would be easier to cut down.

 

Looking up, as it was about to come down, to make sure it was going the right way.

 

Nanny's in this picture. You just can't see past the tree!

 

Watching from the safe distance of the deck.

Lane helping to get the tree pulled away.

  Have a blessed day!!!    

Back in the Saddle, Again

  I found this poor old blog, this evening. I had forgotten I had had it. I enjoyed looking back at the 10 old posts I had done on here. Made me want to do new ones! We'll see if I can find the time to keep up with it, this time! LOL!!!   A lot has happened in our life, since April of 2010.   We used the Living Books Curriculum for that year, then went back to CLE. As much as we loved it, we just couldn't make it work for us. We could do CLE, and even though none of us enjoyed it, it worked for us. So, we plodded through it. We stuck with Math-U-See, though. It is a wonderful math curriculum, and it has served us well, over the past few years.   But, we have found a new curriculum for the rest of our work! I have to say, IT IS AWESOME!!! It has everything I could want, in a curriculum, and it is TOTALLY FREE for us to use!!!   It is called EASY PEASY, and let me tell you, IT IS!!! It is all done online, so I don't have to worry about where to put all the workbooks and such. I have printed all the pages they need for the whole year, but It hasn't taken up to much space!   Today was our 1st Day of the 2013-2014 School Year!!

Bright and Early on the First Day!!  

First Day Complete!!   Lane is in 8th grade, now. He is learning High School Spanish, so he will be able to count that as a Credit for High School. He also is doing 9th Grade English, so that can go on the Transcript, as well. He's REALLY (WINK! WINK!) looking forward to the Shakespeare!! He's learning American History, from Post Civil War to Now, Chemistry and Physic in Science, as well as Art and Music Appreciation (which ties into the History Lessons), Bible Reading (he's working on the book of John, then will also be doing Revelation and all the Prophets in the OT), Computer Skills, Thinking Skills, P.E., and Health. He's not especially thrilled about all the Composers and Songs he has to listen to for Music, but he'll get over it! LOL!!! He would like to learn another language, besides Spanish, but I told him, I wanted him to learn the Spanish first, then he could work on another one. Spanish is almost a necessary language to learn in our area. He thinks German would be a cool language to learn. I'd also like all of them to learn American Sign Language, as well. I found a free Website for that as well, so maybe we'll find time for that, too.  

Lane Hard at Work on His Vocabulary Words

 

 

Lane is now 14, and he is such an awesome helper. If I am busy helping Blake with his work, and Landon needs something (or vice versa), he is very willing to help them out.



He's also started Volunteering at the Hospital with Dad, once a month. He thinks he might want to do Heating and Air, like Dad. He's very much into Christian Music (all kinds), and still LOVES to read. He has also discovered Computer Games, so I'm having to limit his computer time, especially since all school work is on the computer, except Math. He enjoys Skyping and playing said Computer Games with his 15yo Cousin. They have a lot of fun doing that. He will soon begin to write 2or 3 Penpals, from the EASY PEASY Students. I think he'll enjoy that.   Jacob is now in 6th Grade. He is also learning Spanish, this year. For the first few weeks, he'll be learning Latin words, then translating them into English, French, and Spanish . Then he'll move on to just Spanish. He's also doing English, Bible (Starting in Mark, then reading Acts to Jude), American History from Columbus to Civil War, Art and Music Appreciation tied into the History, Zoology in Science, Computer and Thinking Skills, P.E., and Health.  



Jacob reading Poems by Carl Sandburg   Jacob is 11 1/2, now. He wants to be grown up, so bad! He can make you laugh so easily. He can be such a good-natured kid. He's not real thrilled about having extra chores, this year. But, he knows he's capable, and if he wants to be grown up, he has to act grown up! LOL!! Jacob also has a couple of new Penpals from EASY PEASY, and is excited about meeting some new boys, his age, from different parts of the Country.   Blake is in 2nd Grade, now. I can't believe he's getting so big! He has really struggled with school, but (the BIGGEST reason we are switching to EASY PEASY) he began to learn to read, this year. EP teaches reading through the McGuffy Readers. We had tried so many things, and when we sat down with that, he was reading in 4 minutes time! I was thrilled!  He'll be doing English, and then all the same things that Jacob is doing (except Spanish), only at a younger level. He had a lot of fun, today, with the work. While the big boys are reviewing the Epsilon Workbooks, in Math-U-See, and starting the Zeta Books, Blake is doing Beta.  

Blake hard at work on his Math

 

 

Blake is going to be 9 next month. He is still my crazy (never-know-what-he-might-do-next) kid, but he is also so very sweet! He is so smart when it comes to doing things. He was changing a tire when he was 7! He could do anything he set his mind to. He also is the one that will try ANYTHING, so we have to constantly be watchful, in case he does something dangerous! He's really not afraid of anything! Blake has also got a Penpal from EASY PEASY. I'm hoping it will help with his writing.

 

Landon is now a Kindergartener!!! Where did the time go?!! He is so excited to be FINALLY doing "Real School", as he calls it. He has watched his brothers do school as long as he can remember, and he's so proud to be doing it with them, now! He is learning to read from the McGuffy Primer, and he's doing his Math from the Math-U-See Primer. He loves it. Today, he did 2 full lessons from each. That was 2 days of English and 2 weeks of Math!

 

Landon getting ready for Reading

 

Landon is now 5! He is SO Smart! He is still my Cuddle Boy! Everyday, he has to tell me that he loves me, or his day is ruined! He had to go to the Eye Doctor, today. We've discovered that his eyes don't know how to see very well. That's what the Eye Dr. said. "His eyes just don't know how to see." He'll have to start wearing glasses in a couple of weeks, when they come in. He's very excited.

 

 

All in all, we had a great first day. Even with having to start late, because of the Eye Dr. visit. We also had a visit from my Sister's 8yo Son, while she went to the Dentist, this afternoon. I think he was bored, because he'd finished his Schooling for the day, earlier, and my boys were just getting started. So, they couldn't play with him, much. He was good, though, and played on his little hand held game, he'd brought with him.

 

Well, this post has become a monster of a post, so I think I will close. And although I probably won't post everyday, I sure hope to post more often than once every 3 years! LOL!!!

 

God Bless you all!

Deut. 6:6&7

 

 



   

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