Week in Review - 16

I have gotten away from posting what we do on a weekly basis. We are settled into our new home and routine. Some great things happened this week, so here is a Week in Review.

:: Daily Lessons ::

• Devotional: "Preach My Gospel" - Finished Lesson 5 and started Lesson 6 - a section a day.
• Read A-Loud Book:  "The Little Town on the Prairie" - book #7 of "Little House" series. We started the Doctrine and Covenants for family scriptures.
• Math: Chris - Finished Math-U-See: Delta a couple weeks ago. Whoo hoo! Math-U-See: Epsilon He has worked through lesson 10 - Marly - Math-U-See: Zeta - She is up to lesson 14 - Celeste - Math-U-See: Algebra (review for mom...again!) I have not been working on my Algebra lately and I getting back to it.
• Exercise - We are using the Wii Fit Plus, walking the dog, and going on nature hikes.
• Writing - Chris - daily journal entries. Marly - writing her own book and daily journal entries.
• New Era and Ensign Reading, Scripture Reading, and Individual Reading - See each person below for their readings.
  

:: Weekly Lessons ::

• Monday: Weekly Library Trip, Grammar Lesson - Chris "Winston Grammar".
• Tuesday: Nature Center Fieldtrip, Government Lesson - "The 5,000 Year Leap" - Principle 18
• Wednesday: History Lesson - Chris: "Story of the World", Vol. 2, Chapter 11 - Marly: "Story of the World", Vol. 3, Chapter 8.
• Thursday: Spent time in Urgent Care with Chris. 
• Friday: I attend the local SHEM homeschool conference, Science Lessons - "Concepts and Challenges of Physical Science" - Chapter 6.8 - NEW -"150 Captivating Chemistry Experiments" - Gases, Liquids, and Solids - Exp. #2

:: Individual Readings ::

• Chris (Practice Scholar) - "Sackett", Scriptures, and New Era magazine.
• Marly (Project Scholar) - Re-reading "Harry Potter" series, "Jane Eyre", Scriptures - "Book of Mormon", and New Era magazine.
• Celeste (Mentored Scholar - back to looking for a mentor) - "Villette", "Ann of Avonlea", The Constitution of the United States, Ensign and New Era magazines, and Scriptures.

:: Projects ::

• Chris- Chemistry Labs - Programming Palm PDA and Windows PDA, wrote a lesson for Runescape and posted online.
• Marly - Seminary. Latin - Latina Christiana I.
• Celeste - Organizing details for In The TJED Trenches website and design Utopia Carpet Care website.
• Family - Finish unpacking and hanging pictures.

Feb. '10 - Week 4

OK - I really stink right now at keeping up with posting what we are doing for our education. I missed the last couple of weeks. Sorry, I don't have time to go back and log it in.


We attended a conference last weekend that was truly inspiring and uplifting. Please see my other posts about what we learned.

:: Daily Lessons ::

• Devotional: "Preach My Gospel" - Finished Lesson 4 and Started Lesson 5- a section a day.
  
• Read A-Loud Book: Finished "The Long Winter" book #6 of Little House on the Prairie series and started "The Little Town on the Prairie" - book #7.
• Math: Chris - Math-U-See: Delta (he is studying for the final test next week) - Marly - Math-U-See: Zeta - Celeste - Math-U-See: Algebra (review for mom...again!)
• Exercise - We are using the Wii Fit Plus while "the weather outside is frightful". It is harder than it looks!
  
• Writing - Chris - daily journal entries. Marly - writing her own book and Transformational Writing class assignments. 
  
• Guitar Practice
• New Era and Ensign Reading, Scripture Reading, and Individual Reading - See each person below for their readings.
  

:: Weekly Lessons ::

• Monday: Government Lesson - "The 5,000 Year Leap" - Principle 14
• Tuesday: Guitar Lessons, Weekly Library Trip, Grammar Lesson - Chris - "Winston Grammar" - Review for the Unit test - Marly - "Transformational Writing" class and "Grammatically Correct"
• Wednesday: History Lesson - Chris: "Story of the World", Vol. 2, Chapter 11 - Marly: "Story of the World", Vol. 3, Chapter 8.
  
• Thursday: Friend Outing was Canceled - "The Fallacy Detective", Lesson 4 
• Friday: Science Lessons - "Concepts and Challenges of Physical Science" - Chapter 6.3 - NEW -"150 Captivating Chemistry Experiments" - Gases, Liquids, and Solids - Exp. #6
  

:: Individual Readings ::

• Chris (Practice Scholar) - "Jubal Sackett", Scriptures, and New Era magazine.
  
• Marly (Project Scholar) - "The Fellowship of the Ring", Scriptures - "Book of Mormon", and New Era magazine.
  
• Celeste (Mentored Scholar - back to looking for a mentor) - "TJEd for Teens", "Plutarch's Lives", "The Professor", Ensign and New Era magazines, Scriptures, and Primary Lesson.
  

:: Projects ::

• Chris- Chemistry Labs - Exploding water bottles with #1 baking soda and vinegar, #2 Alka-Seltzer and water.
• Marly - Transformational Writing class at TJED Academy and Prep School and Seminary. Latin - Latina Christiana I - Lessons 8.
• Celeste - More packing.
• Family - Selling items to prepare for move, packing, packing, and more packing.

Feb. 2010 - Week 1

:: Daily Lessons ::

• Devotional: "Preach My Gospel" - Lesson 4 - a section a day.
  
• Read A-Loud Book: "The Long Winter" book #6 of Little House on the Prairie series.
• Math: Chris - Math-U-See: Delta - Marly - Math-U-See: Zeta - Celeste - Math-U-See: Algebra (review for mom...again!)
• Exercise - We are using the Wii Fit Plus while "the weather outside is frightful". It is harder than it looks!
  
• Writing - Chris - daily journal entries. Marly - writing her own book and Transformational Writing class assignments (see Marly's projects for more info.)
  
• Guitar Practice
• New Era and Ensign Reading, Scripture Reading, and Individual Reading - See each person below for their readings.
  

:: Weekly Lessons ::

• Monday: Government Lesson - "The 5,000 Year Leap" - Principle 12
• Tuesday: Guitar Lessons, Weekly Library Trip, Grammar Lesson - Chris - "Winston Grammar" - Adverbs - Marly - "Transformational Writing" class and "Grammatically Correct"
• Wednesday: History Lesson - Chris: "Story of the World", Vol. 2, Chapter 10 - Marly: "Story of the World", Vol. 3, Chapter 2.
  
• Thursday: Friend Outing was Canceled - "The Fallacy Detective", Lesson 2 
• Friday: Science Lessons - "Concepts and Challenges of Physical Science" - Chapter 6.1 - Experiments crystals and solutions.
  

:: Individual Readings ::

• Chris (Practice Scholar) - "Jubal Sackett", Scriptures, and New Era magazine.
  
• Marly (Project Scholar) - "The Fellowship of the Ring", Scriptures - "Book of Mormon", and New Era magazine.
  
• Celeste (Mentored Scholar - back to looking for a mentor) - "Plutarch's Lives" Ensign and New Era magazines, Scriptures, and Primary Lesson.
  

:: Projects ::

• Chris- Chemistry Labs - Crystals and learning about Chemical Formulas
• Marly - Transformational Writing class at TJED Academy and Prep School and Seminary. Latin - Latina Christiana I - Lessons 5-6.
• Celeste - Crazy week with a lot of drama. Trying to sell items and get ready to move.
• Family - Selling items to prepare for move.

Jan. 2010 - Week 4

OOPS! Forgot to post this one....better late than never.

:: Daily Lessons ::

• Devotional: "Preach My Gospel" - Lesson 3 - a section a day.
  
• Read A-Loud Book: "The Long Winter" book #6 of Little House on the Prairie series.
• Math: Chris - Math-U-See: Delta - Marly - Math-U-See: Zeta - Celeste - Math-U-See: Algebra (review for mom...again!)
• Exercise - We are using the Wii Fit Plus while "the weather outside is frightful". It is harder than it looks!
  
• Writing - Chris - daily journal entries. Marly - writing her own book and Transformational Writing class assignments (see Marly's projects for more info.)
  
• Guitar Practice
• New Era and Ensign Reading, Scripture Reading, and Individual Reading - See each person below for their readings.
  

:: Weekly Lessons ::

• Monday: Government Lesson - "The 5,000 Year Leap" - Principle 11
• Tuesday: Guitar Lessons, Weekly Library Trip, Grammar Lesson - Chris - "Winston Grammar" - Adverbs - Marly - "Transformational Writing" class and "Grammatically Correct"
• Wednesday: History Lesson - Chris: "Story of the World", Vol. 2, Chapter 10 - Marly: "Story of the World", Vol. 3, Chapter 2.
  
• Thursday: Friend Outing was Canceled - "the Fallacy Detective", Lesson 1
  
• Friday: Science Lessons - "Concepts and Challenges of Physical Science" - Chapter 3.3 - Experiments on heat energy - we made fire balls with cotton and kerosene.
  

:: Individual Readings ::

• Chris (Practice Scholar) - "Jubal Sackett", Scriptures, and New Era magazine.
  
• Marly (Project Scholar) - "The Fellowship of the Ring", Scriptures - "Book of Mormon", and New Era magazine.
  
• Celeste (Mentored Scholar - back to looking for a mentor) - "The Fourth Turning", "Jonathan Livingston Seagull", "The Great Conversation" Ensign and New Era magazines, Scriptures, and Primary Lesson.
  

:: Projects ::

• Chris - Chemistry Labs - "Fire Balls" and Vinegar and Baking soda explosions. - Palm programming, Windows App Programming - Christian collects Palm and Pocket PC's to learn programming applications on. He is a very talented guy!
  
• Marly - Transformational Writing class at TJED Academy and Prep School and Seminary. Latin - Latina Christiana I - Lessons 4.
• Celeste - Tax preparations, purged items laundry room. - Made "Thank You" gifts for upcoming Southwest TJED Forum. - Latin - Latina Christiana I - Lessons 4.
• Family - Selling items to prepare for move.

Jan. 2010 - Week 3

OK - with the amount of snow we had this week a lot of our time was spent digging out the driveway and digging out the driveways of the elderly in our ward. One of Christian's responsibilities as the Deacon's Quorum president is to organize the shoveling of driveways for the elderly widows in our ward. So, with all that we did not get as much done on book work, but we did gain a lot in the service of our fellow man (woman).

:: Daily Lessons ::

• Devotional: "Preach My Gospel" - Finished Lesson 2 - a section a day.
  
• Read A-Loud Book: "The Long Winter" book #6 of Little House on the Prairie series.
• Math: Chris - Math-U-See: Delta - Marly - Math-U-See: Zeta - Celeste - Math-U-See: Algebra (review for mom...again!)
• Exercise - We are using the Wii Fit Plus while "the weather outside is frightful". It is harder than it looks!
  
• Writing - Chris - daily journal entries. Marly - writing her own book and Transformational Writing class assignments (see Marly's projects for more info.)
  
• Guitar Practice
• New Era and Ensign Reading, Scripture Reading, and Individual Reading - See each person below for their readings.
  

:: Weekly Lessons ::

• Monday: Government Lesson - We took Monday off from our regular schedule and just studied Martin Luther King, Jr. We watched the video of his famous "I Have a Dream" speech at http://www.mlkonline.net.
• Tuesday: Grammar Lesson - Chris - "Winston Grammar" - Adverbs - Marly - "Transformational Writing" class and "Grammatically Correct"
• Wednesday: History Lesson - Chris: "Story of the World", Vol. 2, Chapter 9 - Marly: "Story of the World", Vol. 3, Chapter 2.
  
• Thursday: Not much school work was done.
  
• Friday: Not much school work was done.
  

:: Individual Readings ::

• Chris (Practice Scholar) - "Jubal Sackett", Scriptures, and New Era magazine.
  
• Marly (Project Scholar) - "The Fellowship of the Ring", Scriptures - "Book of Mormon", and New Era magazine.
  
• Celeste (Mentored Scholar - back to looking for a mentor) - "The Fourth Turning", Ensign and New Era magazines, Scriptures, and Primary Lesson.
  

:: Projects ::

• Chris - More Palm programming in C language, learning Java programming, book report (still choosing which book).
  
• Marly - Transformational Writing class at TJED Academy and Prep School and Seminary. Latin - Latina Christiana I - Lessons 3.
• Celeste - Tax preparations, purged items in my bedroom. Latin - Latina Christiana I - Lessons 3.
• Family - A ton of snow shoveling! This was our main focus this week, as well as preparing for the blizzard that brought over 3 feet of snow our way.
  

Jan. '10 - Week 2

With some new changes to our schedule, we have had to restructure our Time and not Content. We are now doing school from 10am to 3pm, rather than 9am to 2pm. Marly and Chris have to fulfill the Daily Lessons within these hours and fill the other time with educational projects and individual study.

:: Daily Lessons ::

• Devotional: "Preach My Gospel" - Finished Lesson 1 and started Lesson 2 - a section a day.
  
• Read A-Loud Book: "The Long Winter" book #6 of Little House on the Prairie series.
• Math: Chris - Math-U-See: Delta - Marly - Math-U-See: Zeta - Celeste - Math-U-See: Algebra (review for mom...again!)
• Exercise - We are using the Wii Fit Plus while "the weather outside is frightful". It is harder than it looks!
  
• Writing - Chris - daily journal entries. Marly - writing her own book and Transformational Writing class assignments (see Marly's projects for more info.)
  
• Guitar Practice
• New Era and Ensign Reading, Scripture Reading, and Individual Reading - See each person below for their readings.
  

:: Weekly Lessons ::

• Monday: Grammar Lessons - Chris: "Winston Grammar" - Adjectives - Marly: "Grammatically Correct" - Study subjects and objects.
• Tuesday: Guitar Lessons, Government Lesson, and Weekly Library Trip - "The 5,000 Year Leap" - Principle 11.
  
• Wednesday: Mutual/Scouts and History Lesson - Chris: "Story of the World", Vol. 2, Chapter 9 - Marly: "Story of the World", Vol. 3, Chapter 1.
  
• Thursday: Homeschool Friends Outing
• Friday: Science Lesson - "Concepts and Challenges in Physical Science" Chapter 3.2 - Energy.

:: Individual Readings ::

• Chris (Practice Scholar) - "Jubal Sackett", Scriptures, and New Era magazine.
  
• Marly (Project Scholar) - "The Fellowship of the Ring", Scriptures, and New Era magazine.
  
• Celeste (Mentored Scholar - back to looking for a mentor) - "The Fourth Turning", Ensign and New Era magazines, Scriptures, and Primary Lesson.
  

:: Projects ::

• Chris - More Palm programming in C language, learning Java programming, book report (still choosing which book).
  
• Marly - Transformational Writing class at TJED Academy and Prep School and Seminary. Latin - Latina Christiana I - Lessons 1 and 2.
• Celeste - Tax preparations, purging broken toys, getting items ready to sell (truck, exercise equipment, entertainment center, etc.) in preparation for getting ready to move. Latin - Latina Christiana I - Lessons 1 and 2.
• Family - Ice removal in driveway, wood stacking.
  

November '09 - Week 1

:: Daily Lessons ::

• Devotional: "Let Him Ask of God" daily inspirational readings.
• Read A-Loud Book: "By the Shores of Silver Lake" book 4 of Little House on the Prairie series.
• Core Phase "Littles": Right and Wrong, Good and Bad, and True and False. - We are working on learning our colors, counting to 5, shapes, and learning the "ABC song" and "Wheels on the Bus", "Once there was a Snowman".
  
• Math: Chris - Math-U-See: Delta - Marly - Math-U-See: Zeta - Celeste - Math-U-See: Algebra (review for mom...again!)
• Journal Writing
• Guitar Practice
• New Era and Ensign Reading
• Scripture Reading
  

:: Weekly Lessons ::

• Monday: Grammar Lessons - "Winston Grammar" - Chris: Adjectives - Marly: Prepositional Phrases.
  
• Tuesday: Guitar Lessons, Government Lesson, and Weekly Library Trip - "The 5,000 Year Leap" - Principle 5.
  
• Wednesday: Mutual/Scouts and History Lesson - "Story of the World", Vol. 2 - Chris: Chapter 6 - Marly: Chapter 39.
  
• Thursday: Homeschool Friends Outing - At our house this week.
  
• Friday: Science Lesson - "Concepts and Challenges in Physical Science" Chapter 2.8 "Air Pressure" - "Usborne Science Encyclopedia" Pages 142-143.
  

:: Individual Readings ::

• Chris (Love of Learner) - "King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table", "Fables of Aesop"
  
• Marly (Project Scholar) - "Airborn", "Star Wars: Hostage", "Star Wars: Jedi Quest", "Skybreaker"
  
• Celeste (Mentored Scholar) - "Jo's Boys", "Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood" (I refresher for me on the 0-6 ages)

:: Projects ::

• Chris - Book Report on "Robin Hood" and a Descriptive Paper on how to make a bow and arrows.
  
• Marly - Book Report on "Catching Fire" and writing her own book.
  
• Celeste - Linux networking, super cleaning the 2nd half of the house, organizing kids bedrooms and my record keeping area.
• Family - LEAVES! LEAVES! and more LEAVES!

October '09 - Week 5

:: Daily Lessons ::

• Devotional: "Let Him Ask of God" daily inspirational readings.
• Read A-Loud Book: "By the Shores of Silver Lake" book 4 of Little House on the Prairie series.
• Core Phase "Littles": Right and Wrong, Good and Bad, and True and False. - We are working on learning our colors, counting to 5, shapes, and learning the "ABC song" and "Wheels on the Bus".
  
• Math: Chris - Math-U-See: Delta - Marly - Math-U-See: Zeta - Celeste - Math-U-See: Algebra (review for mom...again!)
• Daily Journal Writing
• Daily Guitar Practice
  

:: Weekly Lessons ::

• Monday: Grammar Lesson - "Winston Grammar" - Chris: Interrogative sentences - Marly: Prepositions.
• Tuesday: Guitar Lessons and Government Lesson - "The 5,000 Year Leap" - Principle 4 (part 2) - The role of Religion.
  
• Wednesday: Mutual/Scouts and History Lesson - "Story of the World", Vol. 2 - Chris: "Monks in Caves" - Marly: "Elizabethan Times"
  
• Thursday: Homeschool Friend Outing - it's getting too chilly for Park Day anymore so we meet at a home to enjoy each other's company for a few hours.
  
• Friday: Science Lesson - "Concepts and Challenges in Physical Science" Chapter 2.7 "Pressure" - "Usborne Science Encyclopedia" Pages 123-133 - Chemistry for Every Kid - Experiment 10
  

:: Individual Readings ::

• Chris (Love of Learner) - "Robin Hood"
  
• Marly (Project Scholar) - "Erec Rex: The Dragon's Eye", "The Wolves of Aam"
  
• Celeste (Mentored Scholar) - "Jo's Boys", "Catching Fire"
  

:: Projects ::

• Chris - Making a wooden bow and arrows set from oak.
  
• Marly - Working on her Young Women's goals - Crocheting - Practicing better note taking skills - Writing a book
  
• Celeste - Learning Fedora (Linux), Lesson Plans for the rest of this semester, Reorganizing the kids rooms, super cleaning the house after everyone being sick for SOOOO long.
  

October '09 - Week 4

:: Daily Lessons ::

• Devotional: "Let Him Ask of God" daily inspirational readings.
• Read A-Loud Book: "By the Shores of Silver Lake" book 4 of Little House on the Prairie series.
• Core Phase "Littles": Right and Wrong, Good and Bad, and True and False. - We are working on learning our colors and counting to 5.
  
• Math: Chris - Math-U-See: Delta - Marly - Math-U-See: Zeta - Celeste - Math-U-See: Algebra (review for mom...again!)
• Daily Journal Writing
• Daily Guitar Practice
  

:: Weekly Lessons ::

• Monday: Grammar Lesson - "Winston Grammar" - Chris: Contractions - Marly: Modification by Adverbs and Adjectives.
• Tuesday: Guitar Lessons and Government Lesson - "The 5,000 Year Leap" - Principle 4 (part 1) - The role of Religion, Morality, and Knowledge.
  
• Wednesday: Mutual/Scouts and History Lesson - "Story of the World", Vol. 2 - Chris: - Marly:
• Thursday: Homeschool Friend Outing - it's getting too chilly for Park Day anymore so we meet at a home to enjoy each other's company for a few hours.
  
• Friday: Science Lesson - "Concepts and Challenges in Physical Science" Chapter 2.7 - "Usborne Science Encyclopedia" Pages - Chemistry for Every Kid - Experiment 11
  

:: Individual Readings ::

• Chris (Love of Learner) - "Robin Hood"
  
• Marly (Project Scholar) - "
• Celeste (Mentored Scholar) - "Jo's Boys"

:: Projects ::

• Chris - Airsoft rifle shooting
  
• Marly - Working on her Young Women's goals - Crocheting
  
• Celeste - Finding balance in our lives - Scheduling tons of meetings, therapy, visits, and fitting in lessons, Mutual, and other church responsibilities.
  

October '09 - Week 3

Switching it UP! - I have a new plan of together lessons during our "littles" nap time. The "bigs" get to have all my attention during nap time.

:: Daily Lessons ::

• Devotional: "Let Him Ask of God" daily inspirational readings.
• Read A-Loud Book: "On the Shores of Silver Lake" book 4 of Little House on the Prairie series.
• Core Phase "Littles": Sharing, learning the rules, waiting patiently for food, Right and Wrong, Good and Bad, and True and False. We also weened the "littles" from their bottles. I don't know why people think bottles are good for a 3 year old child. Not to mention rotting their teeth.
• Math: Chris - Math-U-See: Delta - Marly - Math-U-See: Zeta - Celeste - Math-U-See: Algebra (review for mom...again!)
• Daily Journal Writing
• Daily Guitar Practice
  

:: Weekly Lessons ::

• Monday: Grammar Lesson - "Winston Grammar" - Chris: Reviewed Helping Verbs - Marly: Modification by Adverbs and Adjectives.
• Tuesday: Guitar Lessons and Government Lesson - "The 5,000 Year Leap" - Principle 3 (part 2) - Virtuous and Moral Leaders.
  
• Wednesday: Mutual/Scouts and History Lesson - "Story of the World", Vol. 2 - Chris: - Marly:
• Thursday: PE at the Park
• Friday: Science Lesson - "Concepts and Challenges in Physical Science" Chapter 2.6 - "Usborne Science Encyclopedia" Pages
  

:: Individual Readings ::

• Chris (Love of Learner) - "Book of Mormon Stories", "Midnight in Sanctaphrax"
• Marly (Project Scholar) - "Bloodhound", "The Picture of Dorian Grey"
• Celeste (Mentored Scholar) - "Jo's Boys"

:: Projects ::

• Chris - Finished several merit badges over the past few months - First Aide, Emergency Preparedness, Citizenship in the Community, - Also worked more on splitting fire wood.
  
• Marly - Working on her Young Women's goals -
  
• Celeste - Still has an injured finger and did not get all of the apples canned or any of her Halloween sewing done yet. Bummer!
  

October '09 - Week 2

Schedule Changes

With the addition of foster children, our lives have changed quite a bit. Our current extra kiddos are both toddlers and we found it necessary to move some of our Scholar Phase lessons to be in the afternoon during quiet time (which is not so quiet). Our Core Phase lessons of Right and Wrong, True and False, and Good and Bad are taking precedence in the mornings in addition to our family readings. These core phasers need a LOT of teaching in these lessons.

Together Lessons

Devotional - "Let Him Ask of God" daily inspirational readings.

Government/History - "The 5,000 Year Leap" by Cleon Skousen :: Principle #3 - "Story of the World" -Volume 2

Science - Friction - Usborne Science Encyclopedia - pages 124-125 - Concepts and Challenges in Physical Science - Chapter 2.5

Family Projects -

• Reading: "On the Shores of Silver Lake"
• Watching: "Little House on the Prairie" TV series
• Log Splitting: We are using an axe or wedge and hammer now to split wood.
  

Individual Phases and Studies

Marlayna (Project Scholar) - Projects: Guitar practice, loom knitting. - Reading: "Bloodhound" - Math: Math-U-See: Zeta.

Christian (Love of Learner) - Projects: Guitar practice, Harmonica, Roping. - Reading: "Midnight Over Sanctaphrax" and "Book of Mormon Stories" - Math: Math-U-See: Delta

Mom (Ready to be a Mentored Scholar - but, still looking for a Mentor) - Still Reading: "Jo's Boys" by Louisa May Alcott - Math: Math-U-See: Algebra - Projects: Taking care of a sick family and praying my hand finishes healing soon.

October '09 - Week 2

Schedule Changes

With the addition of foster children, our lives have changed quite a bit. Our current extra kiddos are both toddlers and we found it necessary to move some of our Scholar Phase lessons to be in the afternoon during quiet time (which is not so quiet). Our Core Phase lessons of Right and Wrong, True and False, and Good and Bad are taking precedence in the mornings in addition to our family readings. These core phasers need a LOT of teaching in these lessons.

Together Lessons

Devotional - "Let Him Ask of God" daily inspirational readings.

Government/History - "The 5,000 Year Leap" by Cleon Skousen :: Principle #3 - "Story of the World" -Volume 2

Science - Friction - Usborne Science Encyclopedia - pages 124-125 - Concepts and Challenges in Physical Science - Chapter 2.5

Family Projects -

• Reading: "On the Shores of Silver Lake"
• Watching: "Little House on the Prairie" TV series
• Log Splitting: We are using an axe or wedge and hammer now to split wood.
  

Individual Phases and Studies

Marlayna (Project Scholar) - Projects: Guitar practice, loom knitting. - Reading: "Bloodhound" - Math: Math-U-See: Zeta.

Christian (Love of Learner) - Projects: Guitar practice, Harmonica, Roping. - Reading: "Midnight Over Sanctaphrax" and "Book of Mormon Stories" - Math: Math-U-See: Delta

Mom (Ready to be a Mentored Scholar - but, still looking for a Mentor) - Still Reading: "Jo's Boys" by Louisa May Alcott - Math: Math-U-See: Algebra - Projects: Taking care of a sick family and praying my hand finishes healing soon.

October '09 - Week 1

Sorry this is so late...we had a bad 1st week of October.

Together Lessons

Devotional - "Let Him Ask of God" daily inspirational readings.

Government/History - "The 5,000 Year Leap" by Cleon Skousen :: Principle #2 - "Story of the World" -Volume 2 - Studying Emporer's of Rome

Family Projects -

• Reading: "On the Shores of Silver Lake"

Individual Phases and Studies

Marlayna (Project Scholar) - Projects: Guitar practice, loom knitting. - Reading: "The Secret Garden", "Predator's Gold", and "Bloodhound" - Math: Math-U-See: Epsilon and Zeta. - WHOO HOO! She finished Epsilon and is moving onto Zeta.

Christian (Love of Learner) - Projects: Guitar practice, Harmonica, Roping. - Reading: "Midnight Over Santaphrax" - Math: Math-U-See: Delta

Marlayna & Christian's Business: Their chickens are laying really great eggs every day and they are working on advertising for selling the extra eggs that we do not eat. We are still working on the advertising. We ran out of paper and ink.

Mom (Ready to be a Mentored Scholar - but, still looking for a Mentor) - Reading: "Jo's Boys" by Louisa May Alcott - Math: Math-U-See: Algebra - Projects: Taking care of a sick family and praying my hand finishes healing soon.

Mom Notes: Don't have anything this week.

September '09 - Week 4

I don't have a full week to post about because I injured my hand...(see my next post).

Together Lessons

Devotional - "Let Him Ask of God" daily inspirational readings.

Government/History - "The 5,000 Year Leap" by Cleon Skousen - Principle #1 - "The only reliable basis for sound government and just human relations is Natural Law."

Family Projects -

• Reading: "On the Banks of Plum Creek"
• We are making apple butter.
  
• We are splitting the wood we gathered a couple months ago to get ready for the winter.

Individual Phases and Studies

Marlayna (Project Scholar) - Projects: Guitar practice, loom knitting. - Reading: "Animal Farm", "On Thin Ice" - Math: Math-U-See: Epsilon.

Christian (Love of Learner) - Projects: Guitar practice, Harmonica, Roping. - Reading: "Stormchaser" - Math: Math-U-See: Delta

Marlayna & Christian's Business: Their chickens are laying really great eggs every day and they are working on advertising for selling the extra eggs that we do not eat. This week they made signs to let neighbors know that we have eggs for sale.

Mom (Ready to be a Mentored Scholar - but, still looking for a Mentor) - Reading: "Jo's Boys" by Louisa May Alcott - Math: Math-U-See: Algebra - Projects: Loom knitting hats for the Soup Kitchen. I am also working on a Community Service fieldtrip for our local homeschool support group.

Mom Notes:

September '09 - Week 3

Together Lessons

Devotional - "Let Him Ask of God" daily inspirational readings.

Government/History - Constitution Day! - September 17 - We studied the Constitution of the United States of America. We spent quite a bit of time on the Bill of Rights and also discussed what it means to "ratify" something. We have a poster size replica of the Constitution, which we love. We also watched "Creating the Constitution" (see Mom Notes).

Science - "Concepts and Challenges in Physical Science" - Air Resistance - "Chemistry for Every Kid" - Experiment #10.

Family Projects - Reading: "On the Banks of Plum Creek" - Our main projects right now are Apples and Onions. We have been dehydrating apples and onions, making applesauce, and basically trying to find creative ways to use up what we have. The homemade onions rings were a big hit!

Individual Phases and Studies

Marlayna (Project Scholar) - Projects: Guitar practice. - Reading: "On Thin Ice", "Septumus Heap Book 4: Quest", "Fearless" - Math: Math-U-See: Epsilon.

Christian (Love of Learner) - Projects: Guitar practice. - Reading: "Stormchaser" - Math: Math-U-See: Delta

Mom (Ready to be a Mentored Scholar - but, still looking for a Mentor) - Reading: "Animal Farm" and "1984" both by George Orwell - Math: Math-U-See: Algebra

Mom Notes: I found a website that I like - Teacher Tube. It has video, audio, documents, etc. for lesson plans of all sorts. This is where we got "Creating the Constitution" from.

September '09 - Week 2

Together Lessons

Devotional - "Let Him Ask of God" daily inspirational readings.

Government - "The 5,000 Year Leap" by Cleon Skousen - Part I - Discussion on the production of money, national debt, and current events and how these relate to Part I of this book.

Science - "Concepts and Challenges in Physical Science" - Force - "Chemistry for Every Kid" - Experiment #1.

Latin - Latina Christiana I - more review of Lessons 1-3.

Family Projects - Reading: "On the Banks of Plum Creek" - We sold a rooster and the kids are getting their egg business up and running now that the chickens are laying.

Individual Phases and Studies

Marlayna (Project Scholar) - Projects: Guitar practice. - History: Story of the World 2 - Chapter 34 - Reading: "Tricksters Queen", "Quest" - Math: Math-U-See: Epsilon.

Christian (Love of Learner) - Projects: Guitar practice. - History - Story of the World 2 - Chapter 3 - Reading: "Beyond the Deepwoods" - Math: Math-U-See: Delta

Mom (Ready to be a Mentored Scholar - but, still looking for a Mentor) - Reading: "Frankenstein", - Math: Math-U-See Algebra

Mom Notes: I don't really have any this week.

September '09 - Week 1

OK, I'm a bit late getting this out. Life has been busy, busy, busy. We made a few changes to our education plan and family work. With the addition of foster children coming and going, we had to make a few adjustments.

1. A chore wheel rather than assignments. This makes it easier on me. Each of my children can easily be assigned a "buddy" to help with the chores without me having to change the entire plan each time children come and go.
   
2. We have a list of "Daily Expectations" and "Weekly Lesson Schedule". (See Mom Notes).
   

Together Lessons

Devotional - "Let Him Ask of God" daily inspirational readings.

Government - "The 5,000 Year Leap" by Cleon Skousen - Part I - Discussion on how the Founding Fathers did not want the US to become a "welfare state".

Science - "Concepts and Challenges in Physical Science" - Gravity - "Chemistry for Every Kid" - Experiment #21.

Latin - Latina Christiana I - more review of Lessons 1-3.

Family Projects - Reading: "On the Banks of Plum Creek" - Young Jammers - My kids started a fantastic free program where they are learning Guitar and Harmonica.

Individual Phases and Studies

Marlayna (Project Scholar) - Projects: Guitar practice. - History: Story of the World 2 - Chapter 34 - Reading: "Wizard Heir", "Princess Ben", "Utopia" (The real one by Thomas Moore). - Math: Math-U-See: Epsilon.

Christian (Love of Learner) - Projects: Guitar practice. - History - Story of the World 2 - Chapter 3 - Reading: "Wizard Heir", "Beyond the Deepwoods" - Math: Math-U-See: Delta

Mom (Ready to be a Mentored Scholar - but, still looking for a Mentor) - Reading: "King Arthur: Tales from the Round Table", "The Communist Manifesto" - Math: Math-U-See Algebra

Mom Notes: "Daily Expectations" are a list of what I feel my children should work on each day. This includes a math lesson, review grammar and spelling rules, daily reading, daily journal entries, etc. By giving my Scholars these expectations, I feel it has enriched their focus on what they need to know to be successful in life.

"Weekly Lesson Schedule" is a basic outline of what we will do together each day (Kids School). Monday - Grammar & Spelling Lesson (rules reviewed throughout the week), Tuesday - Government Lesson, Wednesday - History Lesson, Thursday - PE, Friday - Science Lesson and experiment, Spelling Test.

August '09 - Week 3

Devotional - "Let Him Ask of God" daily inspirational readings.

Government - "The 5,000 Year Leap" by Cleon Skousen - Part I - We are still spending time on learning the differences between Ruler's Law, People's Law, and Anarchy. We have been learning how these different types of law come about and how they are used, putting it into both ancient and modern terms.

Math - Individual Math-U-See books

History - Story of the World, Vol. 2 - "Augustine Comes to England" - Learning about how the Pope begins sending people to teach the "heathen Anglo-Saxons".

Science - "Concepts and Challenges in Physical Science" and "Chemistry for Every Kid" - We learned more about force and did experiments showing how Gravity is a force. One of their favorites was turning celery red in "Rising Water".

Family Projects - Splitting firewood, building chicken laying boxes, and building tire swings. The chicken "condo" laying boxes are finished just in time. Our hens have begun laying beautiful brown eggs. Our rooster is quite a bully.

Individual Phases and Studies

Marlayna (Project Scholar) - Projects: Chickens and Rabbits, Chain Mail making. - Reading: "The Adventure's of Sherlock Holmes", "Touching Spirit Bear", and "The Riddle" - Math: Math-U-See "Epsilon" Fractions - Mind Benders A4-B1

Christian (Love of Learner) - Projects: Chickens and Rabbits, Chain Mail making, Building a Rope Bridge, making rubber-band guns our his Erector set and made Pinewood derby cars for a race on Wednesday at Mutual. - Reading: "Book of Mormon Stories"

Mom (Ready to be a Mentored Scholar - but, still looking for a Mentor) - Projects: Ongoing outdoor projects and prepared for a lesson on "The 8 Keys of Great Teaching" I taught at the HIP Retreat this week. - Reading: Finished "Little Men" and started "Utopia" - Math: Math-U-See Algebra - Reviewing what I have forgotten.

Mom Notes: We left Thursday for the HIP Retreat, which is a Leadership Education based homeschool support group. The Retreat was fabulous with many inspiring speakers. We were able to connect with old friends and make new acquaintances.

August '09 - Week 1

I love homeschooling! I know you have heard it before, but I just wanted to say it again. Sam was with us the first two days this week and I discussed with her how I wished she had homeschooled. She has ALWAYS insisted that she loves public school, but she finally admitted that it is because of social reasons. HA! I always knew it, but it was nice to hear her say it. She also admitted that she enjoys being with us during our Kid School discussions because she learns "how the world REALLY works".

Devotional - Daily reading of "Let Him Ask of God"

Government - Introduction to "The 5,000 Year Leap" by Cleon Skousen - This lead into a 2 hour discussion of current events, how it relates to the past, and the mistakes of the past that are being repeated. We also got into topics of economics, cycles in history, budgeting and how interest works. Very powerful day.

History - Middle Ages - Still working on making chain mail - Reading: Stories of Beowulf Told to Children and Story of the World, Vol. 2. "Beowulf the Hero"

Science - Chemistry - "Concepts and Challenges of Physical Science" Chapter 1 - Scientific method and basic skills.

Read A-Loud - "The Diamond of Darkhold" and "Little House on the Prairie"

Individual Phases and Studies

• Marlayna (Project Scholar) - Projects: Chickens and Rabbits, Chain Mail making - Reading: "Tricksters Choice"
  
• Christian (Love of Learner) - Projects: Chickens and Rabbits, Chain Mail making - Reading: "Warrior Heir"
  
• Samantha (Practice Scholar) - Reading: "The Hunger Games" - Studying for SAT and ACT tests and preparing for her first week at school starting next week. Can't believe she is a Senior this year!
  
• Mom (Ready to be a Mentored Scholar - but, still looking for a Mentor) - Reading: "Anne of Green Gables"
  

MOM NOTES: We also spent two days gathering firewood, hauling it back to our house, and stacking it up neatly to be split later. It was probably the hardest we have ever worked before! - right up there with moving.

Detox

One of the mistakes I made when I first brought my children home was to push them. I have found that they need some time to "detox". It takes a good six months, which scares most people away from doing it, yet it is one of the MOST IMPORTANT things you can do to switch gears from public education to home education. During detox, we had the following rules:

1. No TV, video games, or computers during school hours - 9am-1pm at our house - 30 minutes break for lunch.
2. During school hours they were to keep busy with - books, educational games (board games, card games, etc.), educational toys, and educational videos that were on the approved list (included many classic movies).
3. I encouraged them to start projects - like building models, learning to crochet, painting, coloring, etc. These projects were also considered "school".
4. The only required participation was to Mom School - which is when I teach what is mine. Mom School includes our read-a-loud book and whatever else I decide to teach that day.

During this "detox" time, I spent my "school hours" working on my own education, for myself and as an example to my children. How do you know when detox is over? Easy! They start choosing to learn on their own, they ask questions and want your feedback, and they start coming up with their own goals. You find a child with a book they can't put down or a project they HAVE to finish.

I hope this all makes sense. It is so easy to do what we did as children and so hard to change and do something else.