Review Galloping the Globe

I recently checked out a copy of Galloping the Globe from our library. I wanted to preview it before I purchased it and I'm thankful that I did. The book didn't have as much meat as I thought it would. The planning tips were very general and many quite obvious. For example, an activity listed for a certain country might be, Color the flag of Kenya. ..my thoughts were, "Well of course". I did enjoy reading the literature list however and plan on using many of the books listed. The science was almost entirely animals and although we will talk about which animals live in certain regions or terrains I want to focus more on types of environments such as rain forest, desert, corral reef etc. The Bible recommendations simply give scripture that relates to a certain topic. I really don't like to say that I was underwhelmed by any book. Someone worked very hard at putting it together I"m sure; but it just wasn't what I was looking for in terms of depth. I'll take some ideas with me and keep moving. Also, it was linked to the My Fathers World curriculum...I'm not sure why someone would need both of these. My Fathers World has a county and culture program themselves.
My final decision has not been reached for next year. Usborne has a potential curriculum guide but most likely I will end up cooking this one up myself. I think I can without too much effort formulate a plan for the different continents and countries. Usborne does have many books I am interested in such as; Usborne Art Treasury, World Geography, Wild Places and Living World Encyclopedia. I could order these, add in Dinsey's Our World and Tales from Around the World , Wee Sing Around the World, for example and have a great starting place. I will continue to search for the right fit.

"Plugged In"

I remember reading somewhere that you should always unplug your small appliances even when not in use. It said that even when not turned on the appliance is still using up energy from the outlet. I'm not sure if this is entirely true or not, but it got me thinking.

Am I that "plugged in" to Jesus? Am I so plugged in that even when I am off, when my Bible is not open, when my eyes not closed in prayer; that I am still pulling energy from Him..that I still remaining in Him?

With my horrific sleep problems and diagnosis of them I am finding each days' work to be overwhelming. Grocery lists, shopping trips, bathing the kids, teaching the kids, cooking meals...such simple things but with so little sleep and my energy failing me I can't help but need Him more. I think so many things in my life God has allowed to happen because I have a tendency to lean on myself, believing that in my own strength I can get it done. Well now I have no strength. I'm not writing this for pity or anything like that. I just realize how important it is to be really plugged in to our Savior. How necessary it is on a daily basis to be remaining in Him so that even when we are turned off He is still filling us up.

So I want to be like my toaster...turned on everyday, used every morning, meaning in His word everyday and in prayer, but also when I am "turned off" I am still soaking up energy..still bringing Him in. Like my toaster does with electrical power... Oh God let me be like my toaster!
Sheryl

Guess the Masters

This week in art I let Princess Poodle choose a famous piece of art that she would attempt to recreate in her own way. Triple H refused to paint the painting she chose so he flipped through our art book and chose another painting. I even attempted this project. I didn't get the art genes in the family, my loving sister Jojo got them, but I really enjoyed this project!!! I painted them same painting as Princess Poodle.

Can you guess the two famous paintings below? Let me know your guesses.

Hazel"nut" Academy Update

Here are some pictures from yesterday's colonial day activities. It was our family plus some dear friends that also homeschool and happen to be covering American History as well. The day was a success in terms of hands on learning and good fellowship.

We made quill pens out of turkey feathers we found in the woods. We used store bought ink (cheated on that one) and the kids wrote letters. When they dried we sealed them with red wax and they got to use a signet with the letter H on it to seal up their letters.

Here is Princess Poodle at our mock signing of the Dec. of Indep.

Triple H taking his turn.

This is the craft we made. It is a Game of Graces. We decorated the hoops and painted the sticks. The kids had fun tossing and trying to catch the hoop. We also played marbles which didn't quite work out like I had planned but that's ok. Triple H and his buddy lets call him Monkey, mostly enjoyed rolling the marbles all over the house. On our Colonial Day we also made butter, took a nature hike, and ended the day back in present day at a local Mexican restraurant. hee hee

In other news,

We have completed 14 weeks of Writing With Ease as well as some added dictation because Princess Poodle is ready for this.

We have completed almost 50 lessons in Saxon 2.

We have enjoyed learning about the explorers of North America, the mystery of Roanoke, the first settlements, some on how it was in colonial times, and now we are geared up for the Revolution!!

We have learned about mammals, insects, and spiders. We have taken several nature studies including going to a local animal preserve twice this year. Our most recent adventure is in a post below. We have added many entries to our nature journals.

Princess Poodle is working on her fourth poem for memorization. I will try to post her reciting these soon.

We have added in cursive to Princess Poodles handwriting. We are going to go slow and practice alot. Handwriting is not her favorite thing in the world and never has been . Reminder to self: do not push this to hard!

Triple H is doing so well with his phonics. He is working his way through the single consonant tickets on the Ferris Wheel song and his blending of three letter words improves a little at a time. He continues to learn how to write his letters properly. He is counting well to thirty and by 10's to 100. He loves art as does Princess Poodle and we will continue with our art just taking a break from AP and learning about some artists and their work.

Our second quarter seems to be off to a better start due to some prayer and some added flexibility. Instead of daily folders labled and filled with each days work, I changed the labels to reflect subjects etc. This will work as long as I don't let math slip and have to do three lessons in a day or something like that. I just like that I feel free to do stuff each day as we want and as life leads still making sure to get the basics in of course.

Have a wonderful weekend! I'm so glad it is Friday. And I'm glad that its noon and I'm still in my jammies, and Im glad that Princess Poodle is in her room strumming her guitar making up some kind of song and that Triple H is downstairs writing another quill pen letter. I better go check on him to make sure ink isn't everywhere.

Sheryl

Wordless Wednesday Take "2"

Wordless Wednesday

DD First Grade self portrait in ebony pencil: she hates it, but I liked it...thought it had a neat feel to it.

A Secret Garden

Have you ever wanted a secret garden..a place to hide away from things..well a place to hide from all things but God of course. Because I find that He is most present in our secret places...or perhaps it is just there we hear him better. Well today I got to venture into a secret garden. It isn't mine but I am thankful that Mr. Steven is willing to share it with us from time to time.

Here is a bit of what we experienced on our first adventure into this secret garden.

We saw hundreds of ferns growing in a greenhouse; rows of them in the moist heat, beautiful swans with graceful necks, his art studio full of amazing paintings, his wood work shop where he was working on making magnificent bowls out of stumps of wood, a bamboo forest that reached up to the skies like giant vines that only Jack would climb..I could go on and on. I can't wait to go back to see each season as it shows its beauty in this treasured place. I have always loved the book The Secret Garden. I have always wanted a secret garden of my own. I am hoping that as we develop our backyard here at the house that I can carve out a little secret spot to call my own. I know now as a grown up that I can't step through a wardrobe into another land but I do believe in secret gardens and the power that they hold. I hope you find your secret garden.

Here are some pics of the callicara americana we found decked out in its finest with the most beautiful berries as well as the kids history diaromas of a keeping room they made as part of our colonial studies. The picture at the top of the blog is the secret door that leads into the garden we visited today.

Hope you enjoy.

Book Review: Facing The Lion: Growing Up Maasai

I read this book as one of many that I am reviewing for next year's Geography study. The Maasai, a beautiful people group, are from Kenya. My dh traveled there several years ago on a mission trip and we have wonderful pictures and some items he brought back with him. After reading the book which is one man's experience of growing up a nomadic Kenyan..I believe it will be a little much for dd who will be 8. One chapter focuses entirely on the ritual of circumcision and although it is not overly graphic I feel it might be too much for her. Other chapters are excellent in describing the relationships of the people and the importance of hunting and lions. So my final decision
1: Check it out from the libray and read certain chapters to her for discussion
2. Explore the wonderful photographs that depict the real character of the book.

I will look for some picture books related to Kenya for ds and will also use my husbands scrapbook that I made him on his return from the mission trip.


As for Material World: I must have this book for the pictures alone. It covers a specific family and how they live in a certain country. Beautiful photos that if one takes the time to see the details will gather much information on the condition of the families etc.

That's all for now. Off to make pancakes and start what I hope will be a wonderful week of school. I'll be back to posting school updates, pics, etc. this week.

Sheryl

A Need for Pink

I am a blue girl. I always have been; The sky, the ocean, blueberries, and blue hydrangeas..I was never a pink girl. I have found a way to tolerate pink. God gave me a pink girl. My princess Poodle is all pink. But today or should I say tonight I am feeling fond of pink. Grandma's funeral was today. She loved pink. She even had a pink bathroom..toliet, tile, tub..all pink. Her funeral flowers were like paintings...splashes of pink everywhere; roses, gerber daisies, lilies that O'Keiffe should have painted. So tonight...I am a pink girl. I turned the blog pink in honor of Grandma. At the funeral today they spoke of her community service, her founding of our county, her place of honor in this town, but I sat and thought of different things. I can feel even now how it felt to hold her 92 year old hand. I can see the softness of her beautiful white hair that I remember kissing. I can see her standing on her front porch as the kids and I drove away after a visit as if she had to watch over us; When it was all she could do to stand. She wasn't my grandma until I married her precious grandson. But she took me in and through her love taught me what a grandmother should be...what a grandmother could be. And I think because of her I will forever have a fondness for pink.


And as for the picture at the top of the blog..thats my pink girl..dancing. And I think that is what Grandma must be doing now in heaven before the Lord. It could only be from God that in such sorrow a spirit can dance. Do you feel like dancing with me?
I love you Grandma!

bittersweet but God is Good!

Life here has been hard and surreal. At one point we had both my mother in law in ICU, my father in law in surgery and my grandmother in the hospital all at the same time..same hospital. We are tired and emotionally drained. Praise God that my mother in law is now home and doing well, my father in law came through his surgery and is home doing well. We did lose our grandmother and tomorrow is the funeral. For those that read this and pray please pray for my husband as he will be doing the funeral. He was very close to his grandmother and is exhausted to say the least. I am looking forward to school starting back next week. A dear friend wrote on her blog today about the joy of a groove...our groove has been shaken and although there I times I want it to be shaken right now I need our routine. I need groceries and library trips and school time and early bedtimes and smores on the back porch fireplace. God is very good. He has blessed us this past two weeks beyond measure. I will write more about our sweet grandmother in the coming days. Oh what a precious lady she was! But in all of this...family crisis, death, even election results that were not the results we wanted..God is good. God is unchanging. And He is present. Breathe Him in today.

Sheryl

Random Thoughts on School and Life

While at Disney our family got chosen as the dream family for the LIghts Motor Action stunt show. We got to sit REALLY close and even got to introduce the show on the big screen. We all felt very special and the kids loved the show. Just another snip it of our special trip. I'll stop bugging ya'll with it soon I promise!

I have decided to start slowly adding cursive into our routine. We won't officially start until Princess Poodle finishes Spelling Workout A...which should be before Christmas break. Right now I plan to start showing her how to form the letters on my small handwriting whiteboard. Maybe she will want to practice on the whiteboard too. I'm going to work this into our Morning Meeting and it will be very light hearted to start. Come January I plan to use Abeka Cursive First Grade and move slowly. I also have extra Abeka paper to practice. At some point we will pick up Spelling Workout B...not because I like it but Princess Poodle likes it and enjoys being able to do it independently. Latin will be held off until third grade so thats not even on the radar at this point. I am still considering REAL science for next year because I havn't found anything else that strikes my fancy and I like focusing on one thing at a time. Bob Jones skips around alot and that will drive me crazy. I am in search of a simple book that gives activities on the human body. I will use these along with a spine I have and some library books and that will be our human body science that we will do in the dead of winter. Colonial Day with a homeschooling family is coming up a in couple of weeks...I need more turkey feathers, ink, marbles, coke bottles, baby food jars for making butter, a thimble for hide the thimble, and a few other things. I think it will be a fun day. The American Revolution will soon follow and Princess Poodle keeps begging to learn about it. How strange is that?

Other thoughts...making doll clothes is harder than I thought but I will do it, I found a rug on clearnance at Target that makes me smile and I bought Princess Poodles' Christmas dress. It is dark velvet green with cream ribbons running across it....so pretty. I hope to find Triple H some dark green cords and a cream button up. I alos went ahead and bought some Christmas presents. I'm crazy I know but I needed somthing as meaningless, fun, and lighthearted as shopping after the week we have had.

The kids are up too late and I must go. Things are looking up today. My sweet mother in law is doing much better and I can't wait to get her home and love on her and get her help with the doll clothes. lol

Hopefully some pics of school work this week now that we are starting back.

Thanks for stopping by.