Mom School: Week 1

My friend, Linda, is starting a link-up for moms who are learning and doing school right along with their children called "Teach by Example - Mom School". For a while now, I've been "doing school"; rather, I've been educating myself and learning new things. One of my goals for 2017 was to learn some new skills and refresh myself on some others.

This week, I've been using my new book "Creative Handwriting and Beyond: Inspiring Tips, Techniques, and Ideas for Hand Lettering Your Way to Beautiful Works of Art". Wow! What a title!

I have always loved hand-lettering and doodling, especially using scriptures. It's a way that I worship God, even if that sounds sort of far-fetched. By taking my time to write out His Words in a beautiful way and illustrate them, I am meditating on them and putting them in my head and heart. It's really very relaxing for me and lots of fun.

I have decided that this year, I will invest in myself - my hobbies, my skills, and my past-times. I don't bat an eye when I purchase something for the kid's education, so why shouldn't I be just as eager to buy things to enhance my education and my skills? And, yes, calligraphy and hand-lettering are skills.

I have also decided to dedicate a 30-minute block in the afternoons each day for my kids and I to practice our skills - whether it be hand-lettering, painting, knot-tying, sewing, cooking, baking, piano, karate, whatever! I think having a time set-apart for myself to learn something will make sure I get it done.

Plus, I've discovered that anytime, and I mean anytime, I get my sketchpads, markers, and book out to start practicing, my kids either do the same thing with paper and markers, or find something similar to do. I realized I can be such an example to them, to show them that even moms want to learn new things! I want my kids to know how learning can be fun, and I hope that they will see me enjoying myself while learning.

Here are some of the practice pages I've been working on. I am getting better, but still not "good" yet! My daughters love my pages, though, and think I'm "the best ever".

 

 

 

 

I even bought Mercie, my almost-9 year old, a hand-lettering book for children, sketchbook, and box of 100 thin markers for her birthday next week. She loves to hand-letter and doodle with me, so I know she will love having her own supplies!

I am also helping my 9th grade daughter with her algebra daily. She is not a math-y kid, and I'm not a math-y mom. I bought my own notebook in hopes that I can start doing her lessons each day on my own. I would love to be proficient and quick in algebra.

The other book I am planning to read this week is "The Signers". Eli checked this one out at the library, but I literally know nothing about anyone who signed the Declaration of Independence, so I'm hoping to read this through and take a few notes.

What are you learning, Mom? Link up:

What We're Reading This Week (week 1)

I would love to start posting the library books my older 3 kids check out from the library each week. Their choices are usually very different from each other, and I always like wondering why they choose certain books. I always enjoy seeing what other kids with ages similar to my own are reading, so maybe you will enjoy this!

The only requirement my kids had this week was to choose one book that was on the presidents, American history, or government. I'm appalled at how little most kids know on this subject, and even how little I myself know! I told the kids they must choose one book on this subject each week for the rest of the year. They have to read the book, and then at the end of the week give an oral report to the family. That way, we can all learn something!

Mikaela - 14

• "Whose Haunting the White House? The President's Mansion and The Ghosts Who Live There" by Jeff Belanger
• "The Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty, United States Marine Corpss, Khe Sanh, Vietnam, 1968" by Ellen Emerson White
• "A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning" by Lemony Sniket

Eli - 11

• "The Signers: The 56 Stories Behind the Declaration of Independence" by Dennis Brindell Fradin
• "Football Trivia" by Tyler Mason
• "The Lego Play Book: Ideas to Bring Your Bricks to Lift" by Daniel Lipkowitz
• "Really Horrible Science Facts" by Jay Wakins

Mercie - almost 9

• "Who Was Betsy Ross?" by James Buckley Jr.
• "The Critter Club: All About Ellie" by Callie Barkley
• "Junie B. Jones Has A Monster Under Her Bed" by Barbara Park
• "Stranded at Plimoth Plantation 1626" by Gary Bowen

What are your kids reading this week?

Week in Review: 1/23-1/27

This week, we got settled into our rental condo in Alabama. Rod worked almost every day this week, and the kids did school each day. We found the library on Wednesday. It's a really neat library with story time on Wednesdays and a "craft-ernoon" on Wednesday afternoon. We are right on Lake Martin, so the kids have been doing some fishing (but no catching). There's a playground on site, so the kids can get some exercise.

Silas finished Unit 3 in Little Hearts for His Glory this week. Here are a few highlights from his week:

• He is on Chapter 5 in The Reading Lesson. He can read lots of three and four letter words and sentences. He enjoys the stories in the book because he can read them himself.
• He learned how to add 3 and 4 (small) numbers.
• He added The Flood and The Tower of Babel to his timeline.
• He memorized Proverbs 20:11 "Even a child is known by actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right."

Titus finished Unit 2 in Little Hands to Heaven this week. Here are some highlights from his week:

• He used pattern blocks to make the letters B and b.
• He used patterns to build the Tower of Babel with his linking cubes.
• He made a rainbow from torn paper.
• He painted the letters B and b with our Kwik Stix.

Mercie completed Unit 20 in Bigger Hearts for His Glory. Here are some of her highlights:

• Mercie used straws to blow paint on paper, representing the "bombs bursting in air" from the Star Spangled Banner.
• She is getting quicker with her multiplication facts.
• We made a 5x5 grid on the floor and I gave her coordinates to find.
• We read in the Pioneer Sampler each day.
• She learned about helping verbs in Rod and Staff grammar.
• We practiced and wrote the Pledge of Allegiance.

Mikaela and Eli both completed days 33-37 in Bob Jones Distance Learning. Here are a few of their highlights:

• Mikaela is learning how to find percent difference, percent error, and experimental error. She has quite a few word problems to muddle through each day.
• Eli is learning fractions, which comes easy for him.
• Mikaela and Eli are both working on adverbs and adjective in grammar, at different levels.
• In Life Science, Eli is learning about genes and reproduction.
• In Physical Science, Mikaela is learning about gravity and freefall.
• In Cultural Geography, Mikaela finished up chapter 5 and is beginning on chapter 6, which is on Canada.
• In World Studies, Eli learned about European culture, expansion and religion.

Their days are getting much quicker with BJU. I don't know if it's just that they're used to how the program works now or what, but almost every day this week, they were both done by 12! We do begin at 8-8:30 in the morning, and they work until lunch. After lunch, they usually have another hour or two of schoolwork, but this week, they were both finished.

How was your week?

"Doritos" - a poem by Eli

Eli, my 7th grader, had an assignment in his Writing and Grammar course today. He was to write a poem from prose. He kind of missed the mark on this one, but it was such a funny poem, I wanted to share it. I hope it brings a smile to your face today.

Doritos

 

My favorite chip I'll speak of today

They're so delicious in a cheesy way.

They are the chips for the athletic pros,

Oh how I love you, Doritos!

My favorite flavor is nacho cheese,

Gimme, gimme, gimmie, pretty please!

And now only at Taco Bell,

you can get them like a taco, that's very swell!

You can get them at the store in three different sizes.

When you throw them in your mouth, it's like flavor prizes.

There's one little problem, and that is when

there's no more left and you scream then,

"Sme hent rocaustran mephan trouk"

Oh please don't curse!

There's more in your mama's purse!

See this is a time to keep your mouth closed

because I will say "All Hail Doritos!"

 

by Eli Russell

 



B: Boys

Growing up, I only had sisters. My closest friends growing up only had sisters. Now, my sister and I both have three boys! My mom, who never had a son, now has six grandsons. And, let me tell you, boys were something new to us all! My husband, on the other hand, has three brothers; plus, he's a boy, so boys were nothing new to him.

Here are a few facts about boys that I have learned over the past 11 years:

• Boys are loud.
• Boys are messy.
• Boys are always hurting themselves.
• Boys are dangerous!
• Boys have no fear.
• Boys give the best hugs.
• Boys make me laugh at things I never would have thought would be funny, like farts and burps and other bodily functions.
• Boys have imaginations.
• Boys are competitive.
• Boys are goofy.

My boys are Eli, who is 11; Silas, who is 6; and Titus, who is 4. These boys are always outside doing things - riding bikes and scooters, building things, exploring, and getting hurt. They are always making things with Legos, shooting each other with pretend guns, pretending to be a Jedi, and flipping off my furniture. They think SpongeBob is quality television, farting is funny, and they are Little Joe and Adam from Bonanza. They eat me out of house and home, are constantly tearing holes in their blue jeans, and want to fix anything that's broken (especially if they broke it). They are always trying to beat me in board games, races, and anything they can turn into a competition. They are always toting around tool boxes, tackle boxes, and BB guns.

These are the kinds of pictures I find on my camera - from BOYS.

 

Eli  and his first deer.

Dressed up for church, and not happy about it.

Eli fishing here in Alabama.

 

Titus and Silas goofing off in their room.

 

Silas and Titus working in the yard - digging holes.

 

Titus and his toolbox.

I love my boys! They have opened a whole new world for me - an exciting, imaginative, and colorful world. I am so thankful that God has chosen to give me 3 wonderful sons.

Join us for Blogging Through the Alphabet!

Bob Jones Distance Learning Details and Components - The VLG

I hope to start a series of posts on Bob Jones Distance Learning (BJDL) - the details and components of the program. Just a quick overview: Mikaela is using the 9th grade complete curriculum and Eli is using the 7th grade complete curriculum, both with DVDs. They completed Day 33 today, so I'm not ready to give a complete review of the program, but so far we are really loving it and I'm quite impressed. Yes, there are a few things we aren't crazy about, but isn't that true with every program?

I wanted to give a review of my favorite component of BJDL is the VLG - Video Lesson Guide. This is simply a booklet that contains the 180 daily lesson plans for each of your child's subjects.

Let's take a peek into Eli's VLG - Day 34. I'll use the Life Science subject row for the examples below. As you can see, there are 6 columns at the top of the page. These columns are "Lesson", "Content", "Materials Needed", "Work Text", "Assignment", and "Parent Responsibility".

The "Lesson" column just states the subject, along with video number your child will be watching for the day. For example, his first column says "Life Science LS-05-05". This tells Eli that for Life Science he will watch the DVD that spans these numbers, find the number on the screen, and push play.

The "Content" column explains what the lesson is about. This way, at a glance, I can see what he will be learning in his video and what he will be working on today. Today his says:

• Chapter 5 Test
• UNIT 2 - Heredity and the Origin of Life
• Introduction
• Chapter 6 - Cell Division
• Introduction

The "Materials Needed" column lists any materials your child will need in addition to his textbook, workbook, and pencils. Today, he will need the Chapter 5 Test which is in a test booklet. I can tear out the test and hand it to him to complete. If there is a lab or investigation, it will list all of the supplies you need.

The "Work Text" column tells you which pages in your book(s) you will be using. His says "pp. 79-80".

The "Assignment" column is just that - the assignment for the day. This is really nice because I can glance at this and see exactly what they are expected to do today for homework. Today his says "Read Section 6A, pp. 79-82". Sometimes it will say things like "Answer section review questions on this page..." or "Be prepared for a quiz tomorrow".

The last column is "Parent Responsibility". This tells me exactly what I have to do each day. Today it says "Administer, grade and record Chapter 5 test." It also tells you how long the video will be each lesson. This lesson is 30 minutes, which is the standard time. Some days may be shorter, like 15-25 minutes, but it's never longer.

The reason I love the VLG so much is because it has simplified my life! Every morning after Bible time, I tell Mikaela and Eli to bring me their VLGs. We take a few minutes to read over together, discuss anything that I think they need to remember, and gather any materials. I can quickly see if I need to do anything, which subjects I need to check (because some they check in "class" on the DVD), and what they need to study for.

The kids use it as a checklist as well. Each time they finish a subject, they can put a checkmark beside it. They know what they've done and what they have left.

It is such a simple thing, but without it, BJDL would be much more complicated for me to use. The kids really like it, too, because they can quickly see what they are doing today. Some days, they don't have a video to watch and some days are "catch up days". They usually compare "days" with each other. "I don't have a video in Cultural Geography or Bible today!" and "Oh man, I have two quizzes today!" Looking ahead, on Day 35, Eli has three subjects that are "No Video" days! He has tests and assignments, but no video.

In summary, the VLG is my favorite component of BJDL because it simplifies things for myself and my children.

Week in Review, 1/16-1/20

Last week, Mercie completed Unit 19 in Bigger Hearts for His Glory, Silas completed Unit 2 in Little Hearts for His Glory, and Titus finished most of Unit 1 in Little Hands to Heaven. Mikaela and Eli completed days 29-32 in Bob Jones Distance Learning.

Silas has really taken off in The Reading Lesson. He is almost through with chapter 4. I am so impressed and encouraged, because reading has been such a struggle for my little man. He is also excited that he is reading sentences and short stories now.

Mercie has been using Times Tales to solidify her multiplication facts. She is having such trouble with them, but two days of Times Tales has helped quite a bit.

We are using The Pioneer Sampler for science now, and it is wonderful! We love the stories and the simple activities. Last week, we learned about how to make maple syrup and sugar from tapping trees. The activity was to fill two plastic cups with the same amount of water, but add two spoons of sugar to one and stir it until it dissolved. We put them in the freezer for an hour. After an hour, we took them out to discover that the one with sugar was still slushy, while the one with just water was frozen. This showed us how the maple in the trees acts as an "antifreeze" for the trees. Interesting!

We took off Friday from school because we were packing and cleaning the house. We left Saturday morning headed to Alabama, and we arrived Saturday evening. We got settled in the condo we are renting, went to the grocery store and bought food and a few things we needed, and then relaxed and watched some TV!

The condo is nice. There is a playground, a swimming pool, and it's right on Lake Martin. We went fishing today for a little while, but the wind is so cool that we couldn't stay out long.

This is a short week-in-review, but I'm exhausted from the weekend! Have a great week!