Another book for Catherine

Because she has been so passionnate about reading the series of Magic Tree House, I have been looking around to find the ones we are missing. Today, I found this one on E-Bay and got it for 2,24$:



She is going to be so happy when it arrives :)

Adding a new (future) homeschooler :)

I am pregnant!!!

EDD #6 December 7th, 2009. For now. My first ob appointment is April 6th and then an u/s not long after that.

Words cannot express how happy I am right now. My children have been jumping up and down all over the house since this morning. And when we went out to run errands, they told anyone and everyone who would listen that they had a baby brother or sister growing inside my belly.

Wonderful and perfect. We are not a *keeping secrets* kind of family. When we are happy, everyone knows why. And we are happy like we never have been before. Well, ykwim, lol.

A truly breathtaking book

A must have in every library. I am so glad I bought it (for 2$, I might add. Brand new). The author made portraits of many animals, adding some poetry, story inserts, facts and more to each page. Everytime you turn a page, you think this is the best one... until you turn the next page.

My daughter's interest in van Gogh

Ever since Catherine started her painting classes last January, she has been talking about all the great painters in the world. She wants to know everything about them and see all their works. Everytime we go to the liquidation store, I look at their book selection. I have found some great ones at great prices and others just too expensive. So, I wait for the prices to go down then buy them (I am that cheap, lol. Well, not cheap but smart. Why pay smething 80$ when you can wait a few months and have it for 10$?). Today, I found these two:



We paid 12.90$CAD with no taxes (sale going on), regular price online is 82.50$USD. Vincent van Gogh has been her favorite so far and she has wanted to know more about him. She even chose one of his paintings as her end of the year painting. And she truly did an amazing job. She is very talented (and she takes that from her father). I am happy to be able to find and offer her the books she wants and to have found a great teacher for her. I know she will go far with her talent. I have known since she was barely 2yo.

Having fun learning starts young

This is a cute picture of Mathieu, who had climbed on the table when the kids were homeschooling.



He wanted to read books and *have fun* too.

Our afternoon

The children spend the first half of our afternoon playing outside. It is such a beautiful day that they just had to go out and play, for much longer than usual. They came back in and Catherine went and picked up the mail. What did I receive? My new Sonlight catalog!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woohoo, I was so excited, I was jumping up and down. The kids were excited too, asking if there were new books they would be getting for homeschooling. I told them yes then got them all in the playroom, watching this math dvd while I looked through the catalog.



All five were having fun watching that dvd. They love it and learn so much. I have already put the second volume in my cart and I see they got a third one out too. And one for grammar. The ones for science are unbeatable. They are truly amazing.

Oh, I am anxious to get my next order ready. The books, the science experiments, the art projects, ... So much fun ahead.

A unit on Africa

Here it is, our unit on Africa. I am still missing some books on coffee, tea, diamonds, aviation, Third World and jungle animals. Any suggestions would be apreciated.

In case anyone is interested, I am sharing it here. Our main reference book is Konos, Africa. You will notice that no books on religion are on my list. This is how I teach my kids. I know Konos is religion base but I always work around that.

Africa

The Africa Cookbook (Jessica B. Harris ISBN 0684802759)
The Panama Canal (Elizabeth Mann ISBN 0965049345)
Africa the Serengeti (dvd)
Africa's Wildlife Collection (National Geographic, dvd)
Children's Stories From Africa (dvd)


Week 1

People:

- Ramses II
- Jean Francis Champollion
- Alexander the Great
- Augustine
- Cleopatra
- Tutankhamen

Related Subjects:

- Pyramids
- Irrigation
- Snakes

Additional Books and DVD Titles:

- I Wonder Why the Sahara is Cold at Night (Jackie Gaff ISBN 0753454343)
- Desert Animals (Stephen Savage, ISBN 0750248254)
- Enchantment of the world; Egypt (Ann Heinrichs, ISBN 0516248669)
- The Great Pyramid (Elizabeth Mann, ISBN 0965049310) *
- The Water Harvester (Mary Witoshynsky ISBN 0797421233)
- Desert Song (Tony Johnston ISBN 0871564912)
- Akimbo and the Snakes (Alexander McCall Smith ISBN 1599900346)
- Prince of Egypt (dvd) *

Week 2

People:
- Mohammed
- Fatima
- T.E. Lawrence
- Gamal Abdel
- King Faruk

Related Subjects:
- Islam
- Sahara Desert
- Ramadan
- Suez Canal
- Camp David Accords
- Oil industry
- Aswan Dam
- Israel

Additional Books and DVD Titles:
- Arabian Nights (Husain Haddawy ISBN 0393313670)
- Aladdin (dvd) *
- The Wind and the Lion (dvd)
- Lawrence of Arabia
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (Indiana Jones, dvd)
- The Sahara: The Forgotten of the World's Harshest Desert (dvd)
- Empires of Industry: Black Gold - The Story of Oil (dvd)

Week 3

People:
- Anwar El Sadat
- Menachem Begin
- President Jimmy Carter
- Thomas Jefferson
- King Hassan II
- Stephen Decatur
- Muammar Quaddafi

Related Subjects:
- Berber
- Nomad
- Morocco
- Tuareg
- Camel

Additional Books and DVD Titles:
- Enchantment of the World: Morocco (Martin Hintz ISBN 0516209612)
- Sahara: Vanishing Cultures (Jan Reynolds ISBN 1600601316)
- Kassim's Shoes (Harold Benson ISBN
- I Wonder Why Camels Have Humps (Anita Ganeri ISBN 1856971015)
- Is a Camel a Mammal? (Tish Rabe ISBN 0679873023)
- This is the Oasis (Miriam Moss ISBN 1845070801)
- El Cid (dvd)
- Beau Geste (dvd, The Gary Cooper Collection)
- Aladdin (dvd) *
- Lion King (dvd) *
- Casablanca (dvd)
- Four Feathers (dvd)
- Exodus (dvd)

Week 4

People:
- Mary Slesser
- Alex Haley
- Kunta Kente
- Harvey Firestone
- Uncle Remus

Related Subjects:
- Ashanti
- Ghana
- Nigeria
- Mali

Additional Books and DVD Titles:
- The Village of Round and Square Houses ( Ann Grifalconi ISBN 0333485211)
- The Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit (Julius Lester ISBN 1439512175)
- A Story, A Story (Gail Haley ISBN 0689712014)
- Spider Stories (Matthew Kirby ISBN 1419663593)
- The Biography of Chocolate (Adrianna Morganelli ISBN 0778725170)
- The Adventures of Brer Rabbit (dvd)


Week 5

People:
- Patrice Lumumba
- Albert Schweitzer
- Jane Goodall
- Dian Fossey
- King Leopold

Related Subjects:
- Jungle
- Olduvai Gorge
- Gorilla
- Chimpanzee

Additionnal Books and DVD Titles:
- The Monkey and the Crocodile (Paul Galdone ISBN 0899195245)
- Koko's Kitten (Francine Patterson ISBN 0590444255)
- Nim's Island (Wendy Orr ISBN 0440418682)
- Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears (Verna Aardema ISBN 0140549056)
- Enormous Crocodile (Roald Dahl ISBN 0142302457)
- Akimbo and the Crocodile Man (Alexander McCall Smith ISBN 1599900339)
- The Clever Monkey: A Folktale from West Africa (Rob Cleveland ISBN 0874838010)
- Water Hole Waiting (Jane Kurtz ISBN 0060298510)
- The African Queen (dvd)
- Nim's Island (dvd) *

Week 6

People:
- Louis Leakey
- Mary Leakey
- Richard Leakey
- Haile Selassie
- Jomo Kenyatta
- Karen Blixen-Finecke
- Kipchoge Keino
- Idi Amin
- Winston Churchill
- Bushmen

Related Subjects:
- Archeology
- Coffee

Additional Books and DVD Titles:
- Archaeology (Usborne ISBN 0746094973)
- Out of Africa (dvd)
- Hatari (dvd)

Week 7

People:
No People

Related Subjects:
- Safari
- Segengeti National Park
- Swahili
- Ostrich
- Zebra
- Giraffe
- Lion
- Vulture
- Hyena
- Elephants
- Cheetah
- Leopard
- Baboon
- Vanilla
- Lemur
- Octopus Tree
- Chameleons
- Rhinoceros

Additional Books and DVD Titles:
- Favorite Poems Old and New (Helen Ferris ISBN 0385062494)
- Akimbo and the Elephants (Alexander McCall Smith ISBN 1405218118)
- Akimbo and the Lion (Alexander McCall Smith ISBN 1405218126)
- Akimbo and the Baboons (Alexander Mc Call Smith ISBN 0307397076)
- The Biography of Vanilla (Julie Karner ISBN 0778724905)
- Lion King (dvd) *
- Lion King II (dvd) *
- Madagascar (dvd) *
- Madagascar II (dvd) *

Week 8

People:
- Cecil Rhodes
- David Livingstone
- Henry Stanley
- Desmond Tutu
- Nelson Mandela
- Shaka
- Piet Retief
- Gary Player
- Christian Bernard

Related Subjects:
- Boer War
- Nobel Peace Prize
- Kalahari Desert
- Mining
- Zulu
- Apartheid

Additionnal Books and DVD Titles:
- Shaka: King of the Zulus (Diane Stanley & Peter Vennema ISBN 068813114x)
- South Africa: Enchantment of the World (Ettagale Blauer ISBN 0516248537)
- Zimbabwe: Enchantment of the World (Barbara Radcliffe-Rogers ISBN 0516211137)
- Bushmen of Southern Africa (Galadriel Findley Watson ISBN 1590362225)

Week 9

People:
- John Wycliffe
- Haile Gebreselassie

Related Subjects:
- Aviation
- Disease
- Missions
- Africa

Additionnal Book and DVD Titles:
- Endurance (dvd)

Ali is writing her numbers

I know, she is barely three years old but she is just too anxious to learn. So, she has started writing her numbers this morning. She was so happy, so proud. And she wanted to do more pages. More pages, Mommy, she kept saying. After four pages, I had her take a break and go play. I do not want her to do too much then start not liking it. She can do more tomorrow.

Done with HWT

Catherine and William are both done with their HWT writing books. So, I got more paper out and will be making them write words from their English lessons. Not only will it make them practice their writing but it will make them practice their vocabulary and spelling. Smart, hey?

Putting together the unit on Africa

I am feeling pretty motivated right now. I got my Konos Africa book out and started planning everything to go with it. Many of the books they suggest are out of print so I have been putting together my own list, adding many more, including dvds. When I plan something, I want to plan it perfectly. So, I added a cookbook on african recipes, dvds on african animals, pyramids, the Nile, ... I know we are already studying a lot of it with SOTW1 but it will be a nice review for the kids, along with more in depth learning. Like in the second week, I have found a dvd on the story of black oil. Or in week 3, they will get to see the movie Casablanca. They will learn why in a village in Africa, women live in round houses and men live in square houses. And read the book of Nim's Island, which they enjoyed the movie. I have always believed that books are much better than the movie so this is good. In week 6, they will learn more about coffee and in week 7, about vanilla.

So much to learn and so easy to make it fun. I am so lucky to be able to homeschool my kids and let them add more of what they want to learn about. After I am done with these units they chose, I am going to put together some on the human body. There is a lot to learn there and they are always full of questions. I need to find a way to answer them. And thensome.

Planning, planning and more planning!

This is a time that I love. Getting to plan our next year and see just how much we did and how much we want to do in the next year. Putting together units, going from subject to subject and finding the most interesting books and manipulatives. My list is getting very long but I am sure you already knew that, lol.

And, turns out that Sonlight will now be charging a shipping fee but they will honor my one year free shipping since I bought a complete core. I plan on buying the books for the next two years before August, which will save me about 100$ of shipping. Sonlight has so many wonderful books that I cannot see myself getting another curriculum somewhere else. Some of the books I got for Pre-K are still read every week. I know that we are all anxious to get the next set of books. William prefers the science books while Catherine wants the art and music books :) Zachary and Alexandra and Mathieu? They prefer the empty boxes to play with, lol.

Aside from Sonlight, I made my list for Veritas Press. Tomorrow, I am getting some book organizers for each levels. That will make it easier for the kids to get to the books they want to read. One book organizer for each level and each separated by language (French & English). And I need a few more plastic bins. After that, my school room will be completely in order... until we move it to where the kitchen is!

I also prepared a list of manipulatives, like math games and such. Those are the kids favorites. Today, they played a math game then they played Monopoly Jr. Because the games are now in an armoire and they have easy access to them, I find that they play a lot more with them. Which is what I wanted. They have asked for a new game for Easter, which I might just get them. I know Zachary wants the pirate Toc game for his birthday so he told grandma about it. He also told her about a treasure chest game that he wants. I am pretty sure he will get both.

What else? I am waiting for the binding machine to go on sale. Yes, still waiting. I am going to wait until the first of April then, if the machine is not on sale (they have one sale that lasts the entire month), I will go talk to the manager and ask him for a special price on it. I also need a thing that cuts the side of the books. Kwim? I need to stock up on binders, laminating sheets, ink cartridge, paper (white and colored) and maybe more coloring pencils. Not much else. I stocked last year when a store decided to no longer keep any of these supplies. I got so much for a few cents each.

I am working hard on the kids' units too. I am almost done with Russia and chocolate (we decided to go with chocolate instead of candy for now). Next, I will get a unit on Africa together (which will combine kangoroos and leopards).

There are a few new dvds that I want to get too. National Geographic has some amazing dvds that the kids love. I plan on getting the one on asteroids for Zachary's unit. There are a few dvds for sign language too. And more on the Americas, space, ...

I am glad I am planning so early because I have a lot of research to get done. And a lot of buying, lol. I am hoping to find a lot in garage sales during the summer. Books, games, puzzles, most are brand new because they were bought by parents that were interested in them but that their kids were not. I am lucky that my kids are interested in just about everything :D

St-Patrick's Day

A special for the kids.

Last year, I made green eggs and ham for dinner, along with green jell-o and green cupcakes. The kids loved everything but I found it hard to eat green eggs and green ham, lol. So, this year, I am making a tradional irish meal. At least, I hope it is, lol.

I have a roast beef in the oven and will add cabbage to it later on. I will also prepare parsley dumplings and irish soda bread. We already baked a very beautiful rainbow cake and some cookies. My sugar cookie recipe is terrible but it tastes good and the kids had the greatest time ever cutting then decorating the cookies, all in green. They did not stick with just shamrock, they got the Halloween and Easter cookie cutters, lol.

Not much homeschooling done but between the few hours they spent playing outside with the kids, the cooking, baking and reading they did, I feel they learned just as much. Right?

The children have chosen

I asked the kids to think about what they would like to learn about for our next year. I want to plan ahead and get really great units put together. So, (for now), this is what they have chosen:

Catherine: Germany & Pandas
William: Leopards & metals
Zachary: Asteroids & Candy
Alexandra: Babies & Kangoroos

I have already been looking around and found several National Geographic dvds for them. Now, I need to find some books, crafts and little objects to make learning fun. I will get some children's book written in German, I will get some cases with metals in them for the kids to feel and look at, I will get a few candy recipe books from different contries so we can make them.

Of course, I am not planning and buying everything right now. The kids might change their minds from now until we do those units, next September :) I just love planning early though.

Updated

When I told Catherine that I was watching an auction on E-Bay for a unit on Russia, she changed her mind. She now wants to learn about all Russia, especially about its arts. My little ballerina and painter is fascinated by everything that has to do with arts. So, here is what I got her! (so far)

This book is from Konos. It is a unit on Russia. We already have the one on Africa, which I think we will use for one of the kids' topic (I am sure they will change their mind a few times still. As long as I have not already bought the books and such for the unit, I do not mind).



This is a story book for children:



We already have this cd, which has the story of Peter and the Wolf narrated by Leonard Bernstein with the music from New York Philharmonic:



Than this book about Russia:



And this dvd:



There is also a map of Russia and a Pysanky egg kit!

I am sure I will be able to find a few more things to complete this unit on Russia. I have a friend that speaks Russian, maybe I could ask her to read a story in Russian for my kids? Obviously, I will need to get a dictionnary and a few children's book in Russian. And a recipe book. And some cd's of music.

This is going to be fun :D

Last day off

Yep, our *Spring* break is about to end. The kids are enjoying their last day of being able to play outside all day long and only come inside to eat and use the bathroom. I think it helped them get heir health back, they all seem to be doing so much better.

During our week off, I used the extra time I had to re-organise the entire school room. Twice. I bought some plastic bins to separate supply, I bought baskets to put our books for SOTW, which will make planning much much easier. I also made a more ?? list of what we will need to next year. I organised all the books according to levels. I scanned and printed many activities for the kids. I organised much of their crafts, including papers and books. I washed all the bookcases. I even put aside some books I no longer need and will put them up for sale.

Tomorrow, we start again and we are all anxious. 10 days of no learning (as the kids say) is long enough ;)