Summer Classroom

We almost always take the month of May off from school. However, homeschooling is more of a way of life for us. We make a conscious choice to seize every opportunity to learn. We never take a break from math or reading. I am just less rigid about it when we are on "break".

So here we are, approaching the month of May. It's my favorite month of the whole year. The weather is perfect. Everything is green with new life. We are all usually just itching to spend more time outside.

We spend a lot of time on the back deck. It has sort of morphed into an extension of our "classroom". We have a weather center, botany projects, and even an art project going right now. There are also little lessons on conservation (rain bucket to catch water, clothes line to save electricity, and compost to reduce waste). Sometimes we listen to culturally diverse music and just rock out in our Summer Classroom.





We are trying our hands at cucumber this year.



This paper mache dragon is over 6 feet long! He is going to be hunted by some brave knights during our Homeschool Field Day next week.

Reading Incentive

I found these fun little bookmarks at Staples. They had a whole stack of them for a couple of dollars. In each box I write the chapters or page numbers that I want the kids to read. Then when they complete a box they mark it with an "X". I only do this for their extra reading. I want my kids to read for fun. They can turn in a completed bookmark for a dollar. The faster they finish the more money they can earn.



So far it's working. They boys picked out some really great books that they are enjoying!

Getting Started

Jeremiah made the planter for my marigolds at scouts one night.


He also planted some Zinnias (at least we think that's what they are. All he could remember was that they were flowers and started with a "Z")



Confession Time:

Remember my Garden Babies? Well, I've been so busy, that I neglected them. They all suffered from boredom, depression, and in the end they died of dehydration. We cried great big tears, then went to Walmart and bought some ready to plant toddlers.

However, there was one lone survivor. We have hope that this little guy will not remember the sadness of losing his nursery friends and siblings so he'll grow some nice yummy peppers for us. He's the little pepper plant next to the great big toddler pepper plant.

The Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down

"In rushing rising riv'lets. Till the river crept out of it's bed and crept right into Piglets." Some songs just live with you forever. :D

I love rain. I have loved rain since I was a little girl. Mom would open up the windows in the house and clean. She usually mopped the floors with Pine Sol in those days. The wind would blow through the windows, making the house cool and crisp. The smell of rain would mix with the clean smell of Pine Sol. Sometimes she'd play a record while she cleaned. She always turned the coffee table upside down on the couch. My brother and I would climb into it and pretend it was a boat. Such sweet memories. I clean with Pine Sol to invoke those memories.

So where was I? Oh I love rain. The sound of it is so soothing, most especially when it is thundering and lightening. There is nothing like stormy weather in the middle of the afternoon. I usually just stop and listen to it. Many times I'll go outside and just watch.

That's what I was doing in these pictures.

Just watching the rain soak the world around me, making everything clean.

Surrender at Bennett Place

Surrendering Arms


Retiring the Confederate Flag.


This horse's name is Preacher. The "soldier" said it's because anyone that tries to ride him finds religion.




I'm pretty sure the duffle bag and cooler are 1864 issue, right?

MIA

I have slowed down in the blog world for the time being. We've been crazy busy with me working, gardening, homeschooling, and getting 4 kids in 3 different directions. I plan to resume my Friday's Homeschool Feature next week. I will be taking a break from Magnificent Monday's for a while.

I'm really hoping the dust all settles soon. I'm a creature that thrives on routine, balance, and order in my life. Chaos is for the birds, man.

What have you been up to? Any news or life changes! I'm hoping to catch up on all my favorite blogs soon! I've missed my friends. :D

Friday's Homeschool Feature - Grading

I am a working homeschool mom again. I recently took on a part-time job. This means less down time and I have to keep myself ahead of the kids. I don't have the luxury of playing catch-up.

One of the ways I stay on top of our work load, is grading all their school work the night before. For me this takes a lot of self discipline. The last thing I want to think about at the end of my day is school work. Usually, I grade over my morning coffee during my quiet time.

However, having it done the night before gives me time in the morning to plan or do other things. Sometimes I have to take Leon to work, or someone needs me to sew on a scout patch, or I might have to make several phone calls. My morning time is when I need to be more flexible. If I've left all my grading for the morning, then I might not have time to get to it all.

So I need to grade during a more concrete time of day for me. Just before bed is perfect.

Here I have all the school work laid out for the boys. They simply work through their stack and put it on their bookshelves as they go. Then at night, the Grading Fairy comes along and collects notebooks and workbooks and checks over their progress. Magically their school work is all laid out for them the next morning.


Do you have a homeschool tip you would like to share? Blog about it and link back to me in your post. You can use my banner if you like:

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Then come back here and enter the link to your post in the Mr. Linky widget below.

Not a blogger? Then leave me a comment and share about how you homeschool your children.

Thursday Tips - Pollen Season

The male pine trees are pollinating the females right now. The air with thick with lots of "tree love". When cars drive by the house I can see a cloud of yellow following in their wake.

This is my back deck 30 min after I cleaned it off. I took a friend's advice and used the water hose. The air is hot, sunny, dry, and dusty with this stuff.



It's so super fine. You can see it floating in the air. This picture doesn't do justice to the color. It's a Crayola yellowish-green.


My tip for this fine Thursday is to STAY INSIDE. If you can't stay inside, DON'T BREATHE. If you must breathe, wear what my friend Stephanie lovingly calls the "tree sperm condom". Finally, pray for rain.


Your lungs and throat will thank you.

Want to read more helpful tips, or do you have a tip you would like to share? Click over to Melissa's blog, Coffee With Me.

Easter Sunday

The kids are getting a little older now. They dyed their Easter eggs all by themselves. In fact they did almost everything but fill the basket, on their own this weekend. It was one of those happy/sad moments for this mom.



They aren't too old to look forward to our family Easter basket though!

A Day With Dad

I worked all weekend so Leon held down the fort...so to speak. He took the kids fishing.









They only caught one fish.


Calvin named it "Bait".

Friday's Homeschool Feature - Bug Trap

My boys love bugs. They are fascinated by the tiny microscopic world bugs live in.



This is a mason jar buried at ground level.



We put a plastic lid over top to keep out rain.



We'll come back everyday to check and see what fell inside. Then we'll observe and release our creatures.



Join us for Friday's Homeschool Feature.

1. Share (ideas, adventures, and projects), review a product, or talk about why you homeschool.

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Checking on My Plant Babies

They are coming along very nicely. I'm now "hardening" them off. I'm so excited about this year's garden!



You see the 4 pots with no plants? One of my boys (who will remains nameless but starts with "J" and ends with "h") knocked over our babies and these 4 pots did not survive. So we started them over. This time we planted herbs.


I've got my buckets ready to receive my babies. The compost is almost ready to use.