Fall Photo Shoot

This year my friend Jane and I decided to let me do our school pix. So, we took a trip to the country to her mother's house and snapped these shots.













I hope you liked them. It was so much fun taking them.

Apologia Notebooking Journal Giveaway

Apologia is now producing notebooking journals that accompany each of the elementary science books. Both Botany and Astronomy are now available. You can see samples on the Apologia website here:
These journals are beautiful spiral bound notebooks that will save you time and money. You won't have to print and keep up with your child's notebook pages, buy and maintain page protectors, or purchase and compile binders...everything that makes notebooking time-consuming and labor intensive for mom. Also, your child will adore having their own notebooking journal.
Each of the notebooking journals include:
A daily schedule for those who like to have a plan or would like their children to complete the book on their own
Templates for written narrations, the notebooking activities and experiments
Review Questions
Scripture Copywork, with both print and cursive practice
Reading lists and additional activities, projects, experiments for each lesson
An appendix with beautiful, full-color, lapbook-style Miniature Books
Field Trip Sheets to keep a record field trips
A Final Review with fifty questions the students can answer either orally or in writing to show off all they remember and know at the end of the course.
See the sample pages here:

Botany: https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=128

and

Astronomy: https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=127

Jeannie is giving away four Astronomy Notebooking Journals and four Botany Notebooking Journals to bloggers who post about this on their site. Visit her blog to learn more about this contest: www.jeanniesjournal.com
The contest ends on in one week on May 29th! That way I'll have the weekend to send them before I go to the Illinois conference.
So blog away!

Apologia is now producing notebooking journals that accompany each of the elementary science books. Both Botany and Astronomy are now available. You can see samples on the Apologia website here:
These journals are beautiful spiral bound notebooks that will save you time and money. You won't have to print and keep up with your child's notebook pages, buy and maintain page protectors, or purchase and compile binders...everything that makes notebooking time-consuming and labor intensive for mom. Also, your child will adore having their own notebooking journal.
Each of the notebooking journals include:
A daily schedule for those who like to have a plan or would like their children to complete the book on their own
Templates for written narrations, the notebooking activities and experiments
Review Questions
Scripture Copywork, with both print and cursive practice
Reading lists and additional activities, projects, experiments for each lesson
An appendix with beautiful, full-color, lapbook-style Miniature Books
Field Trip Sheets to keep a record field trips
A Final Review with fifty questions the students can answer either orally or in writing to show off all they remember and know at the end of the course.
See the sample pages here:

Botany: https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=128

and
Astronomy: https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=127

Jeannie is giving away four Astronomy Notebooking Journals and four Botany Notebooking Journals to bloggers who post about this on their site. Visit her blog to learn more about this contest:
www.jeanniesjournal.com

The contest ends on in one week on May 29th! That way I'll have the weekend to send them before I go to the Illinois conference.
So blog away!

I Did It

It finally happened!!! Tyler read his first book all by himself and he did it pretty fluently. OK, it didn't just happen. He worked hard to get to this point. Reading has yet to be his strong point. I owe this progress to our new curriculum, Spell to Write and Read. You may have heard about it if you read one of my previous blogs. Tyler had to first learn cursive in order to write in his log book. His printing was awful, but the cursive is pretty good. We started that in July and by somewhere near October he could write in his log book in cursive. It took a long time because he is only 6 and a boy and those 2 factors alone should say enough. While he was learning to write, he was also learning his phonograms. There are 77 in all to learn. They are like magic cards that unlock spelling first with almost no exceptions to the rules. That in turn unlocks the reading. So far he has learned 120 words and we are spending the last few weeks of school reviewing the few that he had trouble with. I have also been having him read from the log book lists and timing him. The words were marked with the spelling markings that SWR uses. That is so helpful to see the phonograms. For example we would underline /oy/ in the word boy because it is a multi letter phonogram and /sh/ in the word ship for the same reason. That way when he sees it he will know to say /sh/ instead of /s/h/ individually. He has also learned the 5 reasons words have silent final E. Do you know them? I sure didn't. When he sees one marked he knows how to read it. We did it that way for a while, but then I took the markings away and wrote sentences with the words. He did well seeing the phonograms and sounding them out. Each time he read them he got faster. Today I pulled out the book No! No! Word Bird. It had words in it with the same patterns that he has been working with. I was shocked when he read the entire 31 pages. He was so proud and so was I. Not only can he spell the words and knows why they are spelled the way they are, but he can read the words. We will continue to read our lists and sentences I make from them. In a few weeks I will have him attempt another more difficult book written by Wanda Sanseri, the writer of SWR. It uses all 120 words he has learned so far and a few more. I really think he will be able to do it. It won't be long until he can read anything he wants

New Elementary Anatomy/Physiology Course

For those of you looking for the absolute best elementary science courses, Apologia has them. They are the Young Explorer series written by Jeannie Fulbright. We have gone through 2 of them so far and will start our 3rd in May. They are just awesome and teach science in a way that is exciting and easy to do. Jeannie has written each book prayerfully and each one is from a young earth creationist point of view. Recently Jeannie announced that a new book would be out soon, Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology. Below is her description of the course as posted on the Elementary Apologia Yahoo group. I also recently posted a story about the beginnings of this book. If you haven't read it, here is the link: http://ghomeschool.blogspot.com/search/label/anatomy

God created humans in His image, and endowed us with a desire to learn about Him, about our world, and about ourselves. Studying God’s most marvelous and chief creation with Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology will give you and your students insight into God’s nature, imparting a greater appreciation of His amazing and miraculous handiwork. Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology is the sixth bookin the Young Explorer Series. Using the Charlotte Mason methodology, this elementary-level science curriculum gives students an introduction to the fascinating design of the human body. After briefly reviewing the history of the man’s attempts to understand the human body, students are taught about the highly complex, all-important cell. The book then discusses the main systems of the human body, discussing in detail the Skeletal, Muscular, Digestive, Respiratory, and Circulatory Systems as well as several others. The book culminates by tying it all together with the study ofGrowth and Development. Procreation is addressed in terms of DNA and genes.Throughout the book, students will have a wonderful time as they explore and learn with activities, projects and demonstrations that illustrate the concepts learned. They will dissect a chicken wing to learn about bones and ligaments, create a camera box to learn about vision, find their own arteries, veins and capillaries, build a stethoscope, investigate the genetics of inheritance, test their muscle strength, explore the five senses and much, much more.Throughout the course, students will enjoy adding illustrations of organs to their human body poster. They will also complete engaging and fun notebooking assignments to reinforce what they’ve learned.Throughout this fascinating field of study, you and your students will know that we are indeed, “Fearfully and wonderfully made,”

Jeannie

Total Eclipse

We have recently began studying astronomy using Apologia's elementary book. It is just wonderful. Our latest experiment/demonstration was to create an eclipse. We are studying the sun. So we got out our globe. It is really just a ball that looks like a globe. It has been a great edition to our classroom for just a few bucks. Then we got our our moon globe and a flashlight (sun). We figured out that it works better in a completely dark room. We hung the moon on a string and passed it between the sun and the earth. Voila, an eclipse. It was amazing also to see the shadow the earth cast onto the wall/door behind it. I suppose the earth could be part of an eclipse on another planet, maybe? I guess so, if the orbits lined up just right. The kids loved it, possible because they got to play in the dark.

New Apologia Elementary Science Book!

I don't know how many of you use the elementary Apologia science books, but we do and we love them. Jeannie Fulbright is a gifted author and the books are filled with wonderful pictures and projects and experiments to do. They are not watered down, but they are on a child's level. They are also Christ centered, which we love. I am a science teacher, but I was not taught this way. So, the Exploring Creation series is perfect for me to use. I also subscribe to the Elementary Apologia Yahoo group and that is where I found this. Jeannie, herself, posts here and she just announced her newest, upcoming book. Read her post below and you will be amazed at how God is working to get this book out there.

(from Jeannie)
Hi Everyone!I wanted you to be the first to know the news. The Anatomy book is scheduled to be published sometime this summer. Allow me to tell you the story: I felt compelled to pray that God would bring me a co-author for the Anatomy book that was a physician. I did not wish to reinvent the wheel by doing all the research for Anatomy when I could have someone else, who already knew the intricacies of Anatomy, write the technical aspect of the book. I, then, could simply take the data and weave it into a living book, adding in analogies and the commentary and formatting that typify my science series. However, I wanted not only a physician, but a Christian physician. Not only that, I wanted a Christian physician that understood and followed a young earth model of origins. That's not asking too much, is it? Oh! I also had another requirement. This Christian physician that held to and understood the teachings of a young earth model also needed to be NOT WORKING so that he could write this book with me.One thing I've learned in my walk with God is that we should regularly being praying for things that ONLY God can do. This was something that only God could do.Well, I began praying. I called one of my best friends in Oregon who is a major prayer warrior to enlist her in the prayer battle. Within moments, God began to work His miracle. My friend mentioned that she had a good friendthat is a Christian, Young Earth, pediatrician, HOMESCHOOL MOM! "Now to him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us" Ephesians 3:20 Glory to God! This person, Brooke, has high school aged children and has taught Anatomy in great depth to them over the years. She has done many projects, experiments and activities associated with Anatomy. She is an EXPERT not only in Anatomy, but in teaching Anatomy to children. Even more amazing is that this person had been praying the week before and she felt God nudging her that she would be glorifying Him by teaching science to homeschoolers. Further, Brooke has time to write because her children are older, and she's not working as a doctor right now. Is anything impossible with God? So, I received the first lesson from Brooke this weekend and am almost finished with the rewrite and formatting. Thus, the progress will be rapid.We are projecting a summer publication date.Isn't God good?
Warmly,
Jeannie

New Curriculum

This year we are using a new curriculum called Spell to Write and Read (SWR). It is by far the most awesome curriculum I have ever worked with. My son, Tyler, is a boy (of course) and my second born. He is so different than my daughter. He finished Kindergarten barely reading three letter words. Lots of that is because he is just wasn't interested. Mom, however, was highly interested in seeing him become a great reader by the end of the year. That didn't happen and it was frustrating. He is very smart but not very motivated to want to read. (Math is a different story.) I realized that he is not behind. He is right where God wants him to be. Otherwise, he wouldn't be there. Everyone learns at his own pace. We all learn to walk and talk at different times. Reading is no different. It took a lot to get me to that point of understanding, but I am there. So I was looking for a new curriculum both for him and my daughter. Ds likes to spell and can spell pretty good (3 letter words) being that I didn't teach him that. Dd, on the other hand, is an awesome reader, but not that good of a speller. Good readers do not always make good spellers; however, good spellers always make good readers. I was looking for something that would incorporate spelling into our reading, both for my son and daughter. I thought it might motivate them both. That is when God led me to find SWR. I read about it(a lot) and was sure it was just what we needed. I knew it had a big learning curve going into it. (A big learning curve for Me, not so much for their little sponge brains) It is very much teacher led; not one of those "here's you spelling list, memorize it and we'll have a test" kind of things. It is for all ages from Pre-k to college. Wow, and that is all in one(two) books. That works for me. I did go to a workshop to teach me how to teach it. The trainer treated us as K students the first day and fifth graders the next. My brain came home with so many new wrinkles!!! I couldn't wait to get started. I could see, from this workshop, that this was totally awesome.
First of all it teaches spelling in a most unique way that uses most of the senses. It also incorporates the rules of spelling. Finally, a dependable set of rules. These rules don't fail and have few (very few) exceptions. They don't use faulty rules like, "when two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking." That only happens 27% of the time. What about the other 73% of the time? Also it teaches all the sounds of the letters or phonograms (single or multi-letter) at the same time. For instance A doesn't just say /a/ as in cat for the first year and then it says /A/ as in apron later on. It teaches that A says three sounds: /a/, /A/, /ah/(as in wasp). So when the kids have a pretty good working knowledge of these 70 phonograms, they can read anything AND they can spell. It doesn't take long to learn all 70. We have already learned 31 in the first few weeks. Also, they don't teach letter names, only sounds. Knowing the letter names doesn't help you spell our write. However, the most amazing thing I brought away from this workshop is how much logic it teaches and how it sets the ground work for learning new languages. I can't say enough about it. They even have a Yahoo group where the writer of the curriculm, Wanda Sanseri and the trainers will answer questions you have. Where else can you get that? We started out learning our letter sounds (single phonograms). We have just moved into the multi-letter phonograms and will start our first spelling list in another week. We are also learning/reviewing cursive. Bobbi is reviewing. Tyler is learning and doing quite well. He can almost make half of the alphabet in cursive. I'll keep you posted on their progress. If you would like to read the Senate Hearing Speech given by the writer of this curriculum, you can go to http://www.swrtraining.com/id27.html I challenge you to read this. It is very eye opening. Then check out the rest of the site for more information on SWR.