The Joys of Homeschooling

Moving along nicely

2009-10-07T13:03:00.003-04:00

Homeschooling seems to be going nicely again this year. Kids are enthousiatic about the new books and games I got, they are anxious to learn more, they love all the crafts they get to make and they love our new school room, of course.

Just today, after doing their homeschooling, they got to paint some cats for Halloween. This is one of their favorite holidays so they just love the extras we do. They are also enjoying the recipes we have been making. I am encouraging the older two to cook a meal once a week and they are quite proud of that.

We are almost done with our China unit and I have decided to save the rest for next summer. Between all our regular subjects, I think we have enough to do. Well, we are still doing Fall, of course :) Then, the one on xmas.

I think organization is the key. Every year, I am more organized and every year gets easier. And I can see how having a bigger school room that is more organized is helping the kids too. Not only do they never have to look for anything but they are paying a lot more with the games and reading a lot more books.

I have bought some fabric to cover the chairs and want to first sand then taint both the chairs and table. I also got a slipcover for the loveseat, where we love to seat and read books together. A lot still to get done but we will get there.

4 different styles

2009-09-29T14:06:00.003-04:00

I have four children homeschooling. Each get to do some writing each morning.

Catherine sits and gets to it but often looks around to see what is happening. She gets her pages done but it does take a certain time.

William whines and complains about it. He keeps repeating how much he hates writing and how useless it is. He gets it done anyway.

Zachary rushes through his pages, often having to erase everything and start over. For him, the faster, the better. Unfortunately, Mommy does not see it that way.

Alexandra sits down to do her page with great joy. She can spend an hour just on one page. Every letter is perfectly written. She will not let me look at her page until she feels it is how she wants it to look. Patrick and I amazed at how well her writing is. Perfectly drawned letter on the entire line. Perfect space in between each too.

Four kids homeschooled by the same mother yet all four have a different style. And get different results, obviously.

Three ways

2009-09-21T10:13:00.002-04:00

We started learning sign language again last week. Whenever a sign comes up, there i also an English word on the screen to show it. I then say the word in French, to help both Alexandra and Mathieu know what the sign is in French. It made me realise that not only are they learning sign language but they are practicing their English too.

Sign Language, English and French, all in one. I think listening to a Signing Time dvd to start off homeschooling every morning is a great idea. Not only are we starting with family time but the music and songs puts us all in a good mood.

The winner this week

2009-09-18T20:23:00.003-04:00

The kids favorite subject this week was geography! Yay because I worked really hard on making a simple book more fun.

Since we are just starting the new year, I am slowly introducing subjects and more to the kids. Gepgraphy will be in two parts: using the book Galopping the Globe (along with everything I added to it) and using Sonlight's lessons also. The first one is meant more for fun, although they are learning so much. The second is more formal.

I hope to remember to post about each favorite subject every week. That would be really fun to read about at the end of the year.

You have to get this book!

2009-09-11T17:27:00.002-04:00

I received both my Usborne orders today. As you can imagine, I was quite happy. Now that I have a few minutes, I am sitting down and looking at the most interesting one (for me, lol).

I love this book and I cannot wait to try all the recipes and go through all the links it provides. I know the kids and I are going to have a lot of fun preparing and eating all those delicious foods.

The best part is that it also provides lots of info on each country, besides recipes and beautiful pictures. And the links, amazing addition to their books. There are pages on just cheeses, breads, fruits, vegetables and more. This book will be such an addition for both our Galopping Around the Globe studies and on each country we will study more deeply later on. After all, what better way to learn how other people live in other countries than to try what they eat? Right?

Day 1

2009-08-31T10:02:00.004-04:00

Today was our first day. A new year of learning has begun. I hope I will be able to keep this blog updated much more regularely than I did last year.

We started the day with our China unit. I read them this book:

Catherine started reading this one on her own. Her English reading skills are getting so good. I guesstimate she is reading at a grade 5-6 level now. Remember that she is French Canadian and English is not her first toungue.

I then gave each of the kids a coloring page on the Chinese zodiac. Then, we took a small break to get the school room cleaned up (renovations still going on). Well, I got the room cleaned up while the kids went outside and put together a new *house* for the kittens. They spent HOURS on it. They even cleaned up the front porch. They played with the kittens, they drew sweet messages on the wall, the gave a bowl of water to the kittens, they simply had fun. I knew we had more homeschooling planned but I thought the first day should be more fun than formal. So, I let them have fun.

We will get more done tomorrow.

The First Day

2009-08-31T10:01:00.001-04:00

Today is the big day! We start homeshcooling again. Kids were so excited, they were up at 6am! They got dressed, made their bed then had breakfast too. I have a lot planned today and they know it. They have seen me working on all the planning, they hvae seen me putting together games, buying books, receiving books, printing activity sheets, getting actitivy books put together, and everything else. They were already quite anxious to start and got a lot more excited when they saw that I had gifts for them for the end of the day :) Just two gifts, one for the girls and one for the boys. They know that and they would have fun playing together. I know they will, they are such caring and loving children.

The school room is not ready but that is ok, we can work on the kitchen table and sofa. Patrick worked really hard on the renovations all weekend long. He even made me a bookcase in my study so I can have room for all my Archie Comics books. Of course, I think this one was more for him as he loves to read them and did not like having to open boxes to read *new* ones, lol.

Better get started. I obviously also have to prepare lunch and dinner, bake some muffins or cookies, a cake, do the laundry and normal daily cleaning and picking up, place another Usborne book order and keep on working on my homeschool planning. I want October done asap.

Have a great day! I will be back later tonight or tomorrow morning to share all about our first day.

A few changes

2009-08-23T19:35:00.001-04:00

Turns out there are no more gymnastics classes for boys starting this year :( And the group for little children was already filled so there was no room for Alexandra either. After looking around, I suggested that the kids start soccer right now instead of next summer. They agreed and are quite excited about it. Patrick is even more so. He has been playing soccer year long for a few years now so having his three older children play in the soccer league makes him quite happy. Soccer will be Saturday mornings, from 9-11am.

I got the older two boys into karate again. Well, again for William. It will be Zachary's first year. He had to be 6yo to start. Karate will be on Wednesday nights, as usual, which is SO perfect since Patrick will either be playing soccer right after or taking karate classes himself after the boys' class.

Catherine's painting lessons are still on Tuesday nights, from 18h00-19h45. Great timing since we are usually done with dinner before 18h00. She does want to walk to her classes but I am not sure. It will be at night and, even though it is only one block away, we cannot see her the whole way. We will probably walk her there and pick her up, as we did last year. Call us over protective, I do not mind :)

Her ballet classes have moved to Monday, late afternoon. It was more convinient having them on Thursdays since I could run errands while she was taking her classes and not have to make a special trip into town. We will adapt. I am still waiting on the schedule to see if Alexandra will be taking some also. Patrick really wants her to have some kind of activities for herself but, like I reminded him, she will be 4yo next October. Catherine started ballet at 6yo.

I have been debating weither the kids should do science day camp again this year. I am thiking that maybe just the boys should go. Catherine has been going for several years and is not learning much anymore. Besides, since she has her painting lessons, it would be more fair to only send the boys, right? I am thinking about it.

That is it for now. Since the foyer is not done, we have not gotten a piano. No piano, no lessons. I should really try to find someone to teach us how to knit and crochet though. I need to place an add in the village's paper this week.

I have already planned for next summer. Since the kids are taking soccer this Fall, they will take baseball next summer. They are extremely excited about it. We will also take horseback riding lessons as we do our horse unit next Spring. Then, C & W will do circus school while Z goes to science day camp. Those are only for one week each.

No, no, no, I do not over plan, I simply plan really early, lol.

Story of the World 1

2009-08-11T16:54:00.002-04:00

Here it is, our list of updated books and more. The activities are not all written down as I have chosen to skip some of them. And, I will add more that I will find online as we work though chapters. I will also nee dto add cd's and dvds to certain chapters. What I wil do is completely prepare four chapters at a time and post everything again with all the details one month in advance, in case anyone wants to use my planning. I will work on the intro, dinosaurs and chapters 1 & 2 tonight and post it all again soon.

Story of the World 1 Ancient Times

Book
Activity book
CD from Jim Weiss
Encyclopedia of Ancient World (Usborne)

INTRODUCTION How Do We Know What Happened?

Books:

Me and My Family Tree
Archaeologists Dig for Clues
Magic School Bus Shows and Tells: A Book About Archaeology
Writing Down the Days

Activities:

Make family tree.
Visit an archaeology site.
Bake some coconut rocks.
Paint different sized rocks.

The Dinosaurs

Books:

Magic School Bus in the Time of the Dinosaurs
Prehistoric World (Usborne)
First Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life (Usborne)

Fun Books:

Construis tes Dinosaures (Usborne)
Imaginext Dinosaurs Jumbo Coloring Poster Pad
Les Rois de la Préhistoire
Il y a des Dinosaures
School Days Parties
La Danse des Dinos
Stories of Dinosaurs
Dinosnores
Dinosaur Two of a Kind
The Dinosaurs Next Door
The Dinosaur Who Lost His Roar
Les Dinosaures (Usborne)
How Do Dinosaurs Clean Their Rooms?
How Do Dinosaurs Play With Their Friends?
Great Dinosaur Search (Usborne)

CD:

Wee Sing Dinosaurs

DVDS:

Sur la Terre des Dinosaures
The Land Before Time Series
Diego and the Dinosaur Rescue
Dinosaur (Disney)
L'Île aux Dinosaures
T-Rex Back to the Cretaceous (Imax)

Activities:

Go digging for fossils.
Create a dinosaur land using the Usborne book *Construis tes dinosaures*.
Draw and paint dinosaurs.
Bake and decorate dinosaur shaped cookies.
Have a dinosaur theme meal: frothy lime punch, guess-the-dinosaur toast, ancient animal bones, prehistoric fish scales, dinosaur cake.

Chapter 1 The Earliest People

Books:

Who Were the First People? (Usborne)
Ancient Agriculture

Fun Books:

It's Disgusting and We Ate It!
One Small Blue Bead
The First Dog
Little Grunt and the Big Egg
Great Prehistoric Search (Usborne)
Adventures in the Ice Age
Stone Age Sentinel (Usborne)
Living Long Ago
1001 Things to Spot Long Ago (Usborne)
J'Apprend à Dessiner la Préhistoire

DVDS:

Il Était une Fois...l'Homme (Imavision)

Activities:

Read books.
Make a drawing of a cavern.
Draw cavemen, mammouth, hunters, ...
Put together a prehistoric scenery (Rois de la Préhistoire p. 10-13).
Sow a hunter's bag.
Build a hide out in the forest.
Read p. 2-3 of Living Long Ago.
Do p. 4-5 of 1001 Things to Spot Long Ago.
Do project: Ancient Art History Project (www.teachartathome.com/fishmosaic.htm)

Chapter 2 Egyptians Lived on the Nile River

Books:

Ancient Egyptian Jobs
Tales of the Dead: Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Les Egyptiens (Comment Vivaient-ils?) (Usborne)

Fun Books:

Bill and Pete Go Down the Nile
Croco'nile
Gift of the Nile: An Egyptian Legend
Life in Ancient Egypt Coloring Book

CD:

Egyptian Treasures: Mummies and Myths (Jim Weiss)

DVDS:

Activities:

Build your own Nile River.
Make the White Crown of Upper Egypt.
Read books.
Listen to the cd of Jim Weiss.
Color pages of Ancient Egypt.

Chapter 3 The First Writing

Books:

Seeker of Knowledge: The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs
Casting the Gods Adrift
Pharaohs & Pyramids (Usborne)
See Inside Ancient Egypt (Usborne)

Activities:

Read books.
Make a cuneiform tablet.
Make a hieroglyphic roll.
Draw hieroglyphics (Pharaohs & Pyramids p.15)

Chapter 4 The Old King of Egypt

Books:

Who Built the Pyramids? (Usborne)
I am the Mummy Heb Nefert
The Great Pyramid: The Story of the Farmers, ...

Fun Books:

Magic Tree House: Mummies in the Morning
J'apprend à Dessiner l'Égypte

Activities:

Make perfumed oil.
Make a canopy jar.
Build a pyramid with sand.
Draw: pyramids, an Egyptian male, a Sprinx, a boat on the Nile, an Egyptian woman, Toutankhamon, a pharoah, Raw & Anubis.

Chapter 5 The First Sumerian Dictator

Books:

Ancient Egyptians and Their Neighbors

Fun Books:

The Three Princes: A Tale From the Middle East
The Golden Sandal

Activities:

Make a Sumerian seal.

Chapter 6 The Jewish People

Books:

Dance, Sing, Remember: A Celebration of Jewish Holidays

Activities:

Make a coat like Joseph.

Chapter 7 Hammurabi and the Babylonians

Books:

Ten Kings: And the Worlds They Ruled
The Rules (Marty Kelley)

Fun Books:

Abu Ali: Three Tales of the Middle East
The Winged Cat: And Other Tales form Ancient Civilizations

Activities:

Make a code of law.
Build a ziggurat.

Chapter 8 The Assyrians

Books:

Fun Books:

Gilgamesh the King
The Revenge of Ishtar
The Last Quest of Gilgamesh

Activities:

Draw a picture of Enkidu.
Write a tale.

Chapter 9 The First Cities of India

Books:

Fun Books:

One Grain of Rice
The Little Brown Jay: A Tale from India
Once A Mouse
Ancient India Coloring Book

Activities:

Make a brick.
Make a Mohenjo-Daro Dwelling.
Write down what happened to Mohenjo-Daro.

Chapter 10 The Far East: Ancient China

Books:

D is For Doufu: An Alphabet of Chinese Culture
First Thousand Words in Chinese (Usborne)

Fun Books:

The Master Swordsman - The Magic Doorway
The Story About Ping
Cloud Weavers: Ancient Chinese Legends
Ancient China Coloring Book

Activities:

Make a Ming bowl.
Draw some pictograms.

Chapter 11 Ancient Africa

Books:

Ancient West African Kingdoms

Fun Books:

Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti
Zomo the Rabbit: A Trickster Tale From West Africa
Rhinos for Lunch and Elephants for Supper!
The Pot of Wisdom: Anase Stories
Anansi and the Magic Stick
Monkey Business: Stories from Around the World
Ancient Africa Coloring Book
Ancient Africa Coloring Book Vol. 2

CD:

Tales From Cultures Far and Near (Jim Weiss)

Activities:

Make a paper necklace.
Make Anasi the Spider.
Draw hands and feet.
Cook an African feast.

Chapter 12 The Middle Kingdom of Egypt

Books:

Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

Fun Books:

Life in Ancient Egypt: A Coloring Book
Rimonah of the Flashing Sword: A North African Tale
Temple Cat

Activities:

Make a *gold* bracelet.
Burn ensens.

Chapter 13 The New Kingdom of Egypt

Books:

Tut's Mummy's Lost ... And Found
Look What Came From Egypt
His Majecty, Queen Hatshesut

Fun Books:

Tutankhamen's Gift
Tales of Ancient Egypt
Golden Goblet
Mara Daughter of the Nile
The Egyptian Echo

CD:

The Cat of Bubastes

Activities:

Build a monument.
Make an Egyptien mask.
Be an archaeologist.
Read books.

Chapter 14 The Israelites Leave Egypt

Books:

Exodus from Egypt
Exodus

Activities:

Experience famine.

Chapter 15 The Phoenicians

Book:

Ancient Israelites and Their Neighbors: An Activity Guide

Fun Books:

In Search of a Homeland: The Story of the Aeneid
Roman Myths and Legends
Roman Myths

Activities:

Make false stained glass.
Make violet coloring.
Make a pasta necklace.

Chapter 16 The Return of Assyria

Books:

Ancient Egyptians and Their Neighbors: An Activity Guide

Fun books:
The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor

Activities:

Make a book for Ashurbanipas's librairy.

Chapter 17 Babylon Takes Over Again!

Books:

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
Wonders of the World

Fun Books:

Legend of the Persian Carpet
Forty Fortunes: A Tale of Iran
King Nimrod's Tower
The King in the Garden

Activities:

Draw the gardens of Babylon.
Build a Babylonian mountain garden.

Chapter 18 Life in Early Crete

Books:

Fun Books:

Atlantis: The Lost City
Monster in the Maze
Atlantis: The Legend of a Lost City
The Hero and thre Minotaur

CD:

Heroes in Mythology

Activities:

Build a volcano

Chapter 19 The Early Greeks

Books:

Famous Men of Greece

Fun Books:

Greek Myths for Young Children (Usborne)
D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths
The Trojan Horse

Activities:

Make a Mycenaean helmet.
Make a Mycenaean shield.
Make a greek vase.

Chapter 20 Greece Gets Civilized Again

Books:

The Librarian Who Measured the Earth
Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of the Iliad
The Wondering of Odysseus: The Story of the Odyssey
Run With Me, Nike!: The Olympics in 420BC

Fun Books:

Hour of the Olympics (Magic Tree House #16)
Archimedes Takes a Bath

CDS:

She and He: Adventures in Mythology
Galiloa and the Stargazers
Greek Myths

Activities:

Write down your name in Greek letters.
Make Greek musical instruments
Make an olympic crown.
Make your own Olympic games followed by a feast.

Chapter 21 The Medes and the Persians

Books:

Fun Books:

King Midas and the Golden Touch
Esther's Story
Legend of the Persian Carpet
The Persian Cinderella
Ali and thr Magic Stew

Activities:

Make a sliver plate.
Make persian puppets.

Chapter 22 Sparta and Athens

Books:

How Would You Survive as an Ancient Greek?
Inside Ancient Athens
Top Secret: A Handbook of Codes Ciphers and Secret Writing

Fun Books:

Life in Ancient Greece Coloring Book
Spend the Day in Ancient Greece!

Activities:

Make a greek bowl.
Make greek clothes.
Make greek stickers.
Make greek paper dolls.

Chapter 23 The Greek Gods

Books:

The Gods and Goddesses of Olympus
Illustrated Book of Myths

Fun Books:

A Coloring Book of Greek Goddesses

Activities:

Make the family tree of the greek gods of Olympus.
Draw a house for the Greek Gods.
Make a golden apple.

Chapter 24 The Wars of the Greeks

Books:

Fun Books:

The Aesop for Children
Cupid and Psyche
The Flying Horse: The Story of Pegasus
Apollo and Daphne: Masterpieces of Greek Mythology

Activities:

Make an ice cream Greek boat.
Make a gingerbread Parthenon.
Make a *stone* sculpture.
Make Athenian coins.

Chapter 25 Alexander the Great

Books:

Fun Books:

The Greek News

CD:

A Treasury of Wisdom

Activities:

Tie a Gordian knot.

Chapter 26 The People of the Americas

Books:

Machu Picchu: The Story of the Amazing Incas
Who Were the First North Americans?
The Lost World of the Anasazi: Exploring the Mysteries of Chaco Canyon

Fun Books:

Life in Ancient Mexico Coloring Book
Incas, Aztecs and Mayas Coloring Book
Traditional Stories from the Amazon
The Two Mountains
Jabiti the Tortoise: A Trickster Tale from the Amazon
Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back
Is My Friend at Home? Peublo Fireside Tales
Keepers of the Easrth: Native American Stories and Env

CD:

DVDS:

Activities:

Make a seed mosaic map.
Make a native American headband.
Make a native American sand painting.
Make a Nazca line drawing.
Make tapioca pudding.
Make Navajo fry bread.

Chapter 27 The Rise of Rome

Books:

Who Were the Romans? (Usborne)
Tools of the Ancient Romans

Fun Books:

The Roman News: The Greatest Newspaper in Civilization
Roman Myths and Legends
Romulus and Remus

CD:

DVDS:

Activities:

Make a Saturnalia gift.
Run a Popinas.
Prepare a cecina.

Chapter 28 The Roman Empire

Books:

Gladiator (ISBN: 039582656x)
The Roman Colosseum (ISBN: 0965049337)

Fun Books:

Rome Antics (ISBN: 0395822793)
Astérix Gladiateur

CD:

DVDS:

Activities:

Make a Roman Archway and Aqueduct.
Make a Roman road model.

Chapter 29 Rome's War With Carthage

Books:

The Roman Army (ISBN: 0521072433)

Fun Books:

Hannibal (ISBN: 0531202402)
The Young Carthaginian (ISBN: 1406562599)
Hannibal and His 37 Elephants (ISBN: 0823403009)

CD:

The Young Carthaginian

DVDS:

Activities:

Make a cuff bracelet.
Bake Hannibal's elephant ears.

Chapter 30 The Aryans of India

Books:

The Ganges (ISBN: 0836854438)
The Sacred River (ISBN: 0618378391)
Buddha (ISBN: 0805042032)

Fun Books:

Stories from India (ISBN: 0739813358)
Savitri (ISBN: 185269361)
Buddha Stories (ISBN: 080548863)
The Wisdom of the Crows and Other Buddhist Tales (ISBN: 0613707362)
I Once Was a Monkey: Stories Buddha Told (ISBN: 0374335486)
Cooking Along the Ganges (ISBN: 059524422x)

CD:

DVDS:

Activities:

Make a rakhi.
Color fingernails and lips.

Chapter 31 The Mauryan Empire of India

Books:

Festivals of the World (ISBN: 0836816838)

Fun Books:

The Monkey and the Crocodile: A Jataka Tale (ISBN: 0899195245)
Nine Animals and the Well (ISBN: 0618309152

Activities:

Learn how to cook rice; white rice; indian curried rice.
Play snakes and ladders.

Chapter 32 Writing and the Qin

Books:

The Great Wall: The Story of Thousands of Miles (ISBN: 19314141280
Long is a Dragon: Chinese Writing for Children (ISBN: 1881896013)
The Terra-Cotta Army of the First Emperor of China (ISBN: 962276003)

Ancient China Treasure Chest (ISBN: 0823413179)

Fun Books:

Ten Suns: A Chinese Legend (ISBN:
The Dragon Prince: A Chinese Beauty and the Beast Tale (ISBN: 0613114930)
The Chi'I-Lin Purse: A Collection of Ancient Chinese Stories (ISBN: 0374411891)
Lord of the Cranes: A Chinese Tale (ISBN: 0735816999)
Da Wei's Treasure: A Chinese Tale (ISBN: 0689818351)
The Lost Horse: A Chinese Folktale (ISBN: 015205023x)

Activities:

Practice Chinese calligraphy.
Make the Great Wall of China.

Chapter 33 Confusius

Books:

Usborne Encyclopedia of World Religions (Usborne)
Confusius: The Golden Rule (ISBN: 0439139570)
The Life and Times of Confusius (ISBN: 158415246x)
Made in China: Ideas and Inventions from Ancient China (ISBN: 1881896145)

Fun Books:

The Empty Pot (ISBN: 0805049002)

Activities:

Make tangrams.
Prepare a Chinese tea.

Chapter 34 The Rise of Julius Caesar

Books:

Julius Caesar, Great Dictator of Rome (ISBN: 0751339660)
Famous Men of Rome (ISBN: 1599150468)

Fun Books:

The Wadjet Eye (ISBN: 0618689273)

Activities:

Make a Roman mosaic.
Make a crown of leaves.

Chapter 35 Caesar the Hero

Books:

Roman Numerals I to MM: Numerabilia (ISBN: 0395745195)
Cleopatra, the Queen of Kings (ISBN: 1435273729)
Cleopatra (ISBN: 0688104134)
Life of the Ancient Celts (ISBN: 0778720756)

Fun Books:

Tales From Shakespeare (ISBN: 076362337)
Cleopatra, the Queen of Dreams (ISBN: 0199101930)
Shakespeare Stories II (ISBN: 0395891094)

Activities:

Measure your height.
Make Caesar's flag.
Mint your own coins.
Learn the Roman numerals.

Chapter 36 The First Roman Prince

Books:

The Story of Clocks and Calendars (ISBN: 0060589450)
Ancient Romans (ISBN: 1417649186)

Fun Books:

Cleopatra (ISBN: 0613457277)
Sun-day, Moon-day (ISBN: 1901223000)

Activities:

Make a mosaic calendar.
Make a Roman toga.

Chapter 37 The Beginning of Christianity

Books:

Fun Books:

The Very First Christmas (ISBN: 0570050642)
The Very First Easter (ISBN: 0570070538)
The Jesus Story

Activities:

Draw *The Night with a brillant star*.

Chapter 38 The End of the Ancient Jewish Nation

Books:

Festival of Lights: The Story of Hannukkah (ISBN: 0689830831)
Shabbat (ISBN: 0613316800)

Fun Books:

First I Say the Shema (ISBN: 080740232x)
Masada (ISBN: 1590780639)
Celebrate! Stories of the Jewish Holiday (ISBN: 0439430526)
Journeys With Elijah: Eight Tales of the Prophet (ISBN: 0152004459)
Miriam's Cup: A Passover Story (ISBN: 0590677209)

Activities:

Make a Shabbat sand art candle holder.
Prepare Shabbat meal and day.
Make Hannukkah latkes.

Chapter 39 Rome and the Christians

Books:

I Wonder Why Romans Wore Togas? (ISBN: 0753407620)

Fun Books:

The Roman Record: Hot News From The Swieling Mist of Time (ISBN: 0746027532)
Rome Coloring Book (ISBN: 0883880616)
Pompeii... Lost and Found (ISBN: 0375828898)
Pompeii... Burried Alive (ISBN: 0394888669)
Mystery of the Roman Ranson (ISBN: 061356538x)
Magic School Bus Blows Its Top (ISBN: 0590508350)

CD:

Beric the Briton (Jim Weiss)

Activities:

*Blow* a volcano.
Make Nero's new crown.
Make a salt dough map of Italy.

Chapter 40 Rome Begins to Weaken

Books:

The Celts (ISBN: 0237525765)
Raiders of the North (ISBN: 184215401x)
The Ancient Celts (ISBN: 053116845x)

Fun Books:

Celtic Fairy Tales (ISBN: 140651814x)
Celtic Fairy Tales (ISBN: 0670883875)
Celtic Memories (ISBN: 1841480975)

Activities:

North, South, East, West.
Have a Celtic feast.

Chapter 41 The Attacking Barbarians

Books:

Ten Kings: And the Worlds They Ruled

Fun Books:

Why Are You Calling Me a Barbarian? (ISBN:

Activities:

Make barbarian bracelets.
Reassemble a Roman pot.
Draw a picture of Attila the Hun.

Chapter 42 The End of Rome

Books:

Ancient Rome (ISBN: 075663766x)
Science in Rome (ISBN: 0531159167)

Fun Books:

Caltus Petasatus! (ISBN: 086516472x)
Quomodo Indiviosulus Nomino Grinchus (ISBN: 0865164207)
Vivent Ova! Viret Perra! (ISBN: 0865165556)

Activities:

Make the Emperor's scepter.
Make a *Gifts of Rome* collage.
Have a Roman party.

Planning for September

2009-08-05T12:20:00.003-04:00

So far , so good. I have been busy planinng for our first month of homeschooling and it looks really good.

In French, Catherine will keep on working with Bled. I still have a few lessons to type up and print. All the books for William and Zachary are ready.

In Math, Catherine & William are starting with Défi-Math 1. I already have one workbook, I only need to get a second one for William. I have all the books ready for Zachary but do need to print some pages for Alexandra. And get a few manipilatives.

Geography, kids are starting the Galopping the Globe book. I have alrady printed all the activity pages and planned book lists and such for all the countries for September and October. In September, they will do the intro, which will last two weeks then China and South Korea. I do have some things I want to get together from Sonlight too.

History, kids will redo the intro for SOTW1. We were not consistant enough last year and I think it will be better to just start over again. Adding a few things from Sonlight too.

English, Sonlight all the way. I need to get the activity sheets together for the oldest three. I have those for Alexandra all ready, just need to bring them to the ?? and have them binded. Actually, I have several books we are putting together that I need to have binded.

Science... My favorite this year. I have put together for September a Animal Classifying Unit. And I will make my own classifying cards as I cannot seem to find any in French. I think this works better since we can make cards for each and every animal there is on Earth. I will just get some old magazines of animals, cut the pictures then glue them on a sheet, adding the necessary info then laminate them all. For October, we will study all about bears... panda bears, grizzly bears, polar bears, black bears, brown bears, ... An entire month for bears. I will, of course, add the Sonlight Science program for each child too.

Spanish, this is great. My kids have been wanting to learn Spanish for some time now. So, I finally got the Rosetta Stone Spanish 1 program, homeschool version. So, not only will they learn to understand and speak Spanish but they will also learn to read and write it. I already have many games and manipulatives. I just need good children's books now. Any suggestions? This is proving to be a very difficult area for me. I looked on E-Bay but most books offered are really cheap ones, the kind you find at a dollar store. I want really good Spanish books, like Spanish kids get to read in Spain.

Arts, we are continuing with ARTistic Pursuits and maybe Lézards Plastiques. Catherine will start her painting lessons again sometime in September. She is quite excited about it.

PE, boys are taking karate, girls (hopefully, still got no answer for Ali) will take ballet. We are really thinking about having the oldest four take gymnastics, as they have been asking for sometime now. I am also hoping to find someone here in the village to teach my kids to ice skate. It has to do during the day, when it is warmer. I cannot teach them as I can barely skate myself. Besides, I also want someone that can play hockey with them and maybe teach them a little figure skating too.

Music, I was hoping to have the foyer all done and ready to get a piano but it does not look like that will happen for September. My neighbor has already agreed to give them lessons, once I get a piano. Maybe for in a few months. Patrick will keep on giving them violin and guitar lessons and I will give them flute lessons. I am getting a cd for a program of vocals, which I think they will enjoy immensely. They love to sing.

As for the rest, I want to find another neighbor that will be able to teach them to knit, crochet and do all those wonderful things. Hoping that neighbor can teach me also, lol. We have all been wanting to learn. I can already see all the wonderful gifts we could make for each other.

I think this covers pretty much everything. I am writing it all down as I get it all planned, just to make sure I do not forget anything. I want everything ready for September soon, meaning all the books, activity books, lap books, dvds, cds, fun books, everything... All in place, just ready to be used. Sure hope I get enough time to finish the school room first though. Working hard on that one.

A Unit on Butterfly

2009-07-30T18:36:00.001-04:00

Butterfly

Books:

Butterfly Meadow #1:Dazzle's First Day (Olivia Moss ISBN: 0545054567)
Butterfly Meadow #2: Twinkle Dives In (Olivia Moss ISBN: 0545054575)
Butterfly Meadow #3: Three Cheers for Mallow (Olivia Moss ISBN: 0545054583)
Butterfly Meadow #4
Butterfly Meadow #5: Dazzle's New Friend (Olivia Moss ISBN:
Butterfly Meadow #6: Twinkle and the Busy Bee (Olivia Moss ISBN: 0545054613)
Butterfly Meadow #7: Joy's Close Call (Olivia Moss ISBN: 054510713x)
Butterfly Meadow #8: Zippy's tall Tale (Olivia Moss ISBN: 0545112427)
Butterfly Meadow #9: Skipper Gets Spooked (Olivia Moss ISBN: 0545112435)
Little Einsteins Butterfly Suits (Disney ISBN: 1423108337)
The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast (William Plomer ISBN: 07636444226)
Butterfly House (Eve Bunting ISBN: 0590848844)
From Catterpillar to Butterfly (Heiligman ISBN: 0064451291)
Monarch Butterfly (Gail Gibbons ISBN: 0823409090)
Butterflies in the Garden (Carol Lerner ISBN: 0688174787)
Wings of Light: The Migration of the Yellow Butterfly (Stephen R. Swinburne ISBN: 1590780825)
Magic School Bus: The Butterfly and the Bog Beast (Joanna Cole ISBN: 0590508342)
Illustrated World Encyclopedia of Butterflies and Moths (Morgan ISBN: 0754818845)

DVDS:

Nova: The Incredible Journey of the Butterflies
The Story of the Butterfly
Barbie: Mariposa

Facts:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly

The butterfly is an insect.
Four-stage lifecycle: egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis), adult butterfly.
Butterfly feeds primerly on nectar from flowers.
Vision is well developped in butterflies.
Many butterflies migrate over long distances.
There are between 15 000 to 20 000 speciies of butterflies worldwide.

Activities:

http://www.childcareland.com/butterflies.html
Butterfly coloring pages: http://www.coloring.ws/butterfly1.htm
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/coloringbook/sketch_butterflies.html
Fingerprint Butterfly: http://www.dltk-kids.com/CRAFTS/miscellaneous/fingerprint_butterflies.htm
Put a book together.
Make a page about the lifecycle of a butterfly.
Print an image of a butterfly and identify its parts.
Find links on butterflies.

Recipes:

Butterfly cupcakes: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/butterfly-cupcakes-87208.aspx
Butterfly cake: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/beautiful-butterfly-cake-86978.aspx
Butterfly ice cream sandwiches: http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Butterfly-Ice-Cream-Sandwiches
Butterfly cookies:

Unit on Russia

2009-07-20T11:49:00.003-04:00

Done... almost. I will need to put the activites together and such but now until we are close to doing the unit.

Russia

Look What Came From Russia (Miles Harvey ISBN 0531159671)
First Thousand Words in Russian (Usborne ISBN 0794510019)
Little Sister and the Month Brothers (Beatrice Schenk de Reigniers ISBN 0761455469)
Songs of Old Russia (cd music)

Week 1

People:

Rurik
Vladamir I
Attila the Hun

Related Subjects:

Russia
Time Zones
Rissian Litterature
Vikings

Additional Books and DVD Titles:

Russia (Kathleen Murrell ISBN 0751361240)
Baba Yaga, A Russian Folk Tale (Margaret Yatsevitch Phinney ISBN 157255004x)
Baba Yaga Vasilisa the Brave (Marianna Mayer ISBN 0688085001)
Russian Portraits (Dorothy & Thomas Hoobler ISBN 081146380x)
The Kingfisher Book of Tales From Russia (James Meyhew ISBN 0753452936)
When It's Six O'clock in San Francisco: A Trip Through Time Zones (Cynthia Jaynes Omololu ISBN 0618768270)
Who Were the Vikings (Usborne ISBN )

Week 2

People:

Genshis Khan
Alexander Nevsky
Ivan the Great
Ivan the Terrible

Related Subjects:

Russia
Csar/tzar/czarina
Serf
Peasant

Additional Books and DVD Titles:

Russia (Kathleen Murrell ISBN 0751361240)
Russian Portraits (Dorothy & Thomas Hoobler ISBN 081146380x)
Endless Steppe (Ester Hautzig ISBN 006440577X)
Fiddler on the Roof (dvd)

Find a book on czars

WEEK 3

People

Peter the Great
Catherine the Great
Alexander I
Nicholas I
Napoleon Bonaparte
Florence Nightingale
Alexander II
Karl Marx
Alexander Pushkin
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Leo Tolstoy

Related Subjects:

Russia
Communism
Biographies

Additional Books and DVD Titles:

Peter the Great (Diane Stanley ISBN 068816708X) *
Russian Portraits (Dorothy & Thomas Hoobler ISBN 081146380x)
Russia (Kathleen Murrell ISBN 0751361240)
The Royal Diaries: Catherine: The Great Journey, Russia, 1743 (Kristiana Gregory ISBN 0439253853)
Fiddler on the Roof (dvd)
War and Peace (dvd) ?
Crime and Punishment (dvd) ?
Swan Lake (dvd)
Eugene Onegin (dvd)
National Geographic: Icons of Power - Empress of Ambition, Catherine the Great (dvd)
1812 Overture (cd music)
Russia: Land of the Czars (dvd)

WEEK 4

People:

Nicholas & Alexandra
Rasputin
Carl Fabergé
Anastasia
Leon Trotsky
Alexander Kerensky
Vladimir Lenin
Joseph Stalin

Related Subjects:

Russia
Hemophilia
Biographies
Fabergé Eggs
Communism
KGB

Additional Books and DVD Titles:

First Impressions: Carl Fabergé (Geza Von Habsburg ISBN 0810933248)
Fabergé's Eggs: The Extraordinary Story of the Masterpieces That Outlived an Empire (Toby Faber ISBN 140503887)
The Royal Diaries: Anastisia: The Last Grand Duchess, Russia, 1914 ISBN 0439129087)
Anastasia (dvd, 1956 & Disney)
Nicholas & Alexandra (dvd)

WEEK 5

People:

None

Related Subjects:

Snow and Glaciers
Animals/mammals
Forests/wood
Mining/metals
Aurora Borealis

Additional Books and DVD Titles:

Arctic Tundra (Donald Silver ISBN: 007057927x)
Northern Lights (George Bryson ISBN: 1570612900)
The Snowflake (Kenneth Libbretch IABN: 0896586308)
Snowflakes for all Seasons; Cindy Higham ISBN: 158685528x
Planet Earth (dvd)

Music:

Peter and the Wolf

Week 6

People:

Peter Tchaikovsky
Vaslov Nijinsky
Anna Pavlova
Rudolf Nurevyev
Mikhai; Baryshnikov

Related Subjects:

Ballet/ballerina

Additional Books and DVD Titles:

Tales from the Ballet (Barber & Wallis ISBN: 0753452626)
My Ballet Book (Kate Castle ISBN: 0751358436)
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers: Tchaikovsky (Mik Venezia ISBN: 0516445375)
The Nutcracker (DVD)

WEEK 7

People:

Adolf Hitler
Winston Churchill
F.D. Rosevelt
Joseph Stalin
Harry Truman
Douglas MacArthur
Alger Hiss
Joseph McCarthy
Andrei Sakharov
Gary Powers
Nikita Khrushchev
Isaac Newton
Robert Goddard
Ethel & Julius Rosenberg

Related Subjects:

World War II
Cold War
Espionnage
Rocketry
Satellite Country

Additional Books and DVD Titles:

Operation Overflight: A Memoir of the U-2 Incident (Francis Gary Powers ISBN: 1574884220)
Cold War: The American Crusade Against World Communism (James A. Warren ISBN: 0688105963)

WEEK 8

People:

Yuri Gagarin
Neil Armstrong
John F. Kennedy
Nikita Khrushchev
Fidel Castro
Leonid Brezhev
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Related Subject:

Space Exploration
Space Race
Cuban Missile Crisis
Gymnastics
Olympics
Biographies

Additional Books and DVDS Titles:

One Giant Leap: The Story of Neil Armstrong (Don Brown ISBN: 0618152393)
Cold War (see week 7)
The Cuban Missile Crisis (Nathaniel Harris ISBN: 0750241829)
The Right Stuff (dvd, Mary Apick)
Apollo 13 (dvd)
The Flight of the Bumblebee (music)
La Conquête de l'Espace: L'Espace Russe (Imavision)

WEEK 9

People:

Sergei Rachmaninov
Igor Stravinsky
Marc Chagall
Wassily Kandinsky
Boris Pasternak
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Mikhail Gorbachev
Boris Yeltsin

Related Subjects:

Biographies

Additional Book and DVD Titles:

The Breakup of the Soviet Union (Bernard Harbor ISBN: 0027426254)
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (Alexander Solzhenitsyn ISBN: 0451531043)
Behind the Border (Nina Kossman ISBN: 0688147429)
Shoemaker Martin (Leo Tolstoy ISBN: 1558587721)
Dr Zhivago (dvd)
Prelude in C Sharp Major (music, Rachmaninov)
Firebird (music, Stravinsky)
Petruska (music, Stravinky)

A Unit on Ice Cream

2009-07-19T23:13:00.001-04:00

Nope, not doing that one until March, I think (lol) but since my friend Erin was kind enough to share it with me, I am sharing it here. I did add a few ideas to hers.

BOOKS
* Ice Cream (Elisha Cooper)
* Ice Cream: Including Great Moments in Ice Cream History (Jules Older)
* Ice Cream Cones for Sale (Elaine Greenstein)
* Ice Cream: The Full Scoop (Gail Gibbons)
* From Cow to Ice Cream (Bertram T Knight)
* I like Ice Cream (Robin Pickering)

RECIPE BOOKS:
Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Creama nd Dessert Book (Ben Cohen ISBN: 0894803123)
The Vegan Scoop: 150 Recipes for Dairy- Free Ice Cream That Tastes Better Than the *Real* Thing ( Wheller del Torro ISBN: 1592333923)

DVDS:
Strawberry Shortcake Adventures on Ice Cream Island

EDUCATIONAL FACTS TO LEARN:
* Make a timeline of how ice cream was invented
* July 9, 1984 President Ronald Reagan declared the month of JULY national ice cream month
* Name Ice Cream Ingredients that are used to make different types of ice cream
* Vocabulary Words to learn
* Discuss how ice cream is made
* Why is air important when making ice cream
* Label top 5 ice cream consuming countries on a map

FUN
* Eat freeze-dried astronaut ice cream
* Make Ice Cream (ice cream maker)
* Make Ice Cream (in a bag)
* Try 5 most popular ice cream flavors
* Make "soda" (root beer, orange) floats
* Have grandpa and grandma over for an ice cream sundae party (include all toppings, syrups and 4 or 5 different kinds of ice cream)

* Make an ice cream shop; sell ice cream (pretend); count money, give change

* Ice Cream Games & Printables for each kid (phonics, math, writing)

* Make ice cream CRAFTS (pom pom ice cream cones; ice cream cone tower)

* Make an ice cream cake

* Make mini- Alaskas

An incomplete unit on the seasons/calendar

2009-07-19T23:11:00.001-04:00

I have decide, last minute, to get this one put together. I feel like I am missing a lot still. But, I need to get the other units put together so I am giving this one a rest, for now.

CALENDAR/SEASONS

Related Subjects:

Seasons
Month
Week
Day
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
Calendar

Books:

Around the Year (Tasha Tudor ISBN: 0689828470)
The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree (Gail Gibbons ISBN: 0152712453)
The Bear Almanac, 2nd: A Comprehensive Guide to the Bears of the World (Gary Brown ISBN: 1599213311)
The Time Book: A Brief History from Lunar Calendars to Atomic Clocks (Martin Jenkins ISBN: 076364112x)
The Reasons for Seasons (Gail Gibbons ISBN: 0590907352)
The Four Seasons
Stopping By the Woods on Snowy Evening (Robert Frost ISBN:
Paper Snowflakes
Casey Back at the Bat (Dan Gutman ISBN: 0060560274)
An Orange in January (Dianna Aston ISBN: 0803731469)
Tuesday (David Wiesner ISBN: 0395870828)
January Rides the Wind: A Book of Months (Charlotte Otten ISBN: 0688125565)
July is a Mad Mosquito (J. Patrick Lewis ISBN: 0689318138)
On the Same Day in March (Singer ISBN: 0064435288)
April Foolishness (Teresa Bateman ISBN: 0807504041)
April Without Spring (Violet E. Rawlings ISBN: 1425101143)

DVDS:

Yosemite: Seasons

How were the days of the week named (in English)?

Sunday Sun's day
Monday Mon's day
Tuesday Tiw's day (god of law)
Wednesday Wodin's day (king of gods)
Thursday Thor's day (god of war)
Friday Fria's day (goddess of love)
Saturday Saturn's day (god of farming)

Make a yearly calender. Write in the months, days, seasons, holidays and family birthdays. Draw appropriate pictures for each month.

Memorize the days of the week: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday

Memorize the months of the year: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December.

Use your knuckle to know how many days in a month: January: knuckle, February, March: knuckle, ...Remember to start July with a knuckle and that February is an exception.

Make a tree for all seasons, which you will decorate differently each month to reflect that month.

Take a picture of the same tree, once a month, for a year. See the difference.

Read books about the seasons, the months, about time.

Activities:

January:

Make pea soup
Go ice skating
Draw snowflakes on another tree for all seasons
Make paper snowflakes
Make popcorn ball snowmen
make a snowman from peanut butter balls. Combine equal parts peanut butter, dry milk, honey. Form balls. Roll in coconut
Make snow cones
Pour hot maple syrup over clean, packed snow. Roll around a stick and enjoy
Read the book *An Orange in January*

February:

Make cherry pie
Draw small hearts on a tree for all seasons
Bake a heart shape cake
Bake sugar cookies cut in heart shape. Decorate them with red glitter and icing

March:

Learn About Ireland and St-Patrick's Day
Draw kites on a tree of all seasons
Bake shamrock shape cookies
Read the book *On the Same Day in March*

April:

Practice track skills (board jump, high jump, sprints, ...)
Make a Rainy Day Can of Activities. Write and or illustrate on separate cards some activities that would be entertaining on a rainy day.
Draw small umbrellas on a tree of all seasons.
Help with spring cleaning
Read the books *April Foolishness* and *April Without Spring*

May:

Make a Spring centerpiece with silk flowers
Draw small flowers on a tree of all seasons
Make a Mother's Day card with pressed flowers
Use watercolors to paint a field of flowers
Study animal babies born in the Spring

June:

Make a Summer flower centerpiece with silk flowers
Plant sunflower seeds
Make limonade
Make assorted icies. Mixed juices with ice in the blender.
Play baseball
Read *Casey Back at the Bat*
Draw small fans for a tree of all seasons
Prepare and go ot for a picnic

July:

Draw small flags on the tree of all seasons
Put up a tent and camp out in the backyard
Go fishing
Have a cook-out
Roast corn on the cob by soaking them in water, wrapping in foil and burying in hot coals.
Have a camp fire and sing songs
Make strawberry shortcake

August:

Go swimming or scuba diving
Make sand castles
Make a shell mobile
Draw small shells on the tree of all seasons
Eat watermelon
Make yogourt popsicles (plain yogourt with unsweetened juice)

September:

Bake ABC cookies, decorate with frosting.
Draw small leaves on the tree of all seasons
Make a leaf collage
Make peanut butter

October:

Carve pumpkins
Roast pumpkin seeds
Bake a pumpkin pie
Bake pumpkin bread and/or scones/muffins
Visit an apple orchard, pick apples
Make apple cider
Make apple sauce
Draw apples on the tree for all seasons
Make a autumn theme wreath

November:

Make an autumn centerpiece

December:

Make a pine cone bird feeder. Stuff lard into pine cone. Press on millet. Hang.

Make a gingerbread house

Decorate gingerbread men

Draw small presents on the tree for all seasons

Make eggnog

Learn about the different kind of evergreen trees

Make a centerpiece of red candles, pine cones and holly

The Seasons:

For Spring, read about:

- animals awaking from hibernation
- frogs and toads laying their eggs at the ponds
- birds building nests
- deciduous trees sprouting leaves
- insects eating leaves
- lambs being born
- farmers sowing spring crops
- orchards in blossom
- bulbs blossoming

For Summer:

- flowers filling gardens
- orchards riping with fruit
- farmers gathering crops
- birds and snakes hatching
- tadpoles growing into frogs
- caterpillars hiding in coccooms

For Autumn:

- farmers harvesting wheat, squash, pumpkins
- orchards bearing apples
- squirrels gathering nuts
- leaves on trees turning brown, red and gold

For Winter:

- deciduous trees shedding leaves
- animals hiding underground
- some birds migrating
- deer gnawing the barks of trees

Read books about each season:

January Rides the Wind: A Book of Months
July is a Mad Mosquito
...

A Unit on Airplanes

2009-07-19T23:06:00.003-04:00

I am not planning on getting this one done this year. I put it together for a dear friend of mine. Now, I am sharing it here. Oh, it is obviously not all done. I still want to get a few more activities added.

AIRPLANES

People:

Amelia Earhart
Wilbur & Orville Wright
Charles Lindbergh
Chuck Yeager (pilot)
Baron von Richthofen (pilot)
Daniel Bernoulli

Books:

Twenty One Balloons (William Pene ISBN: 0140320970)
Around the World in Eighty Days (Jules Verne ISBN: 1402736894)
Angela's Airplane (Michael Martchenko ISBN: 155037026x)
The magic Airplane (Peter Walker ISBN: 1595264167)
Grandpa's Airplane: An Alaska Grandpa Bush Pilot Story (Kirk Thomas ISBN: 1594330794)
Richard's Scarry: A Day at the Airport (Huck Scarry ISBN: 0375812024)
Moon Plane (Peter McCarty ISBN: 0805079432)
Amelia Earhart: Young Aviator (Beatrice Gormley ISBN: 0689831889)
Charles Linberg (Anne Schraff ISBN: 1599052504)
Daedalus and Icarus (Menalaos Stephanides ISBN: 9604250256)
Planes (Usborne)

Educational:
First to Fly: How Wilbur & Orville Wright Invented the Airplane (Peter Busby ISBN: 1897330529)
How We Invented the Airplanes (Orville Wright ISBN: 0486256626)
The Color Encyclopedia of Incredible Airplanes (Dk Pub ISBN: 0756626129)
The Wright Brothers: (...) 21 Activities Exploring the Science and History of Flight (Mary Kay Carson ISBN: 1556524773)
The Story of Flight: The Development of Aviation Through the Ages (Stephen Woolford ISBN: 1847323561)
Wings and Rockets: The Story of Women in Air and Space (Jeannine Atkins ISBN: 0374384509)

DVDS:

Fly Past: History of Aviation (History Channel)
Aviation Week: Superior Airpower
War Planes of WWII (History Channel)
The Technology of Kitty Hawk
Amelia Earhart Aviator
Naval Aviation (History Channel)
The Spirit of St Louis
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Activities:

Draw an airplane and label the parts.

Draw 50 Airplanes, Aircraft and Spacecraft (Lee J.. Ames ISBN: 0385236298)

Visit an aviation museum

Make paper airplanes

Have a paper airplane contest. Award prizes for originality, farthest distance, fastest speeds, longest glide time.

Discuss man's various uses for airplanes. What kind of planes best suit these various uses? What planes are best for: crop dusting, passenger carrying, cargo carrying, bombing, etc.? What distinctives do each of these planes need to carry out their fonctions?

Build a model airplane

Visit one or more airports

Go on an airplane tour

Buy a remote control airplane

A Unit on Pandas

2009-07-19T23:05:00.001-04:00

A small unit that will go with the one on China:

PANDA

Books:

Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What do you See? (Eric Carle ISBN: 0805080783)
The Legend of the Panda (Linda Granfield ISBN: 0887764215)
Panda Story (Keren Su ISBN: 0966708814)
Giant Pandas (Gail Gibbons ISBN: 0823418286)
Endangered Pandas (John Crossingham ISBN: 0778719049)
Pi-Chu, the Little Panda (John Butler ISBN:

DVDS:

A Panda is Born
Ultimate Panda
The Amazing Panda Adventure
Nature: Pandas
China: Panda Adventure
Kung Fu Panda
Secrets of the Furious Five

Activities:

Put together book (coloring pages, activities pages, fact pages and blank pages)
Discuss what panda bears look like (coloring, eyes, teeth, paws, fur, size)
Label where panda bears are found (China) on a map
Find out about cub facts and write them down in book
Discuss why pand bears are endangered (only about 1000 large pandas left in the world)
Coloring pages:
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/PandasForKids/color_panda.htm
http://www.billybear4kids.com/animal/whose-toes/color/color-panda.html
http://www.billybear4kids.com/animal/whose-toes/color/color-panda2.html
http://www.pandasinternational.org/pdfs/kp_one.pdf
Panda collage: http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/panda_collage.htm
Panda maze:
http://www.billybear4kids.com/worksheets/mazes/panda-easy.html
http://www.billybear4kids.com/worksheets/mazes/panda.html

Facts:

Habitat: Damp & Misty
Chinese people call pandas Large Bear Cats
Pandas eat for up to 12 hours a day
They eat bamboo, 50-60 pounds a day, they will eat meat, berries, flowers, grass and buts if necessary
Names: father=boar, mother= sow, baby= cub
Noises: bleating sounds, honk, huff, bark, growl; young cubs croak and squel
Female pandas will give birth to 1 or 2 babies but will only look after one of them. She will be a very attentive mother to that one cub but the other will die. After about a year, the young panda will be ready to live on its own.
Pandas are fast on foot and kind of lumber, or trot, along. Really good climbers and can swim to escape danger.
Pandas are shy.
Fact sheet: http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/panda.php

Halloween Unit

2009-07-19T22:57:00.001-04:00

I am sure I will have added a few things to this one by the time we get to it. But, for now, here is what I am planning for Halloween:

HALLOWEEN

Books:

Rainbow Magic: Trixis the Halloween Fairy (Daisy Meadows ISBN: 0545106133)
Mouse's First Halloween (Lauren Thompson ISBN: 0689831765)
Disney's Little Einsteins: Halloween Surprise (Marcy Kelman ISBN: 1423102088)
Disney's Little Einsteins: Pumpkin Patch Puzzle (Marcy Kelman ISBN: 1423109937)
Ten Timid Ghosts (Jennifer O'Connell ISBN: 0439158044)
Who Will Haunt My House on Halloween (Jerry Pallotta ISBN: 0439025214)
Strawberry Shortcake Halloween Play (Eva Mason ISBN: 0448439107)
La Galette de la Sorcière (Nicolas de Hirsching ISBN: 2218735016)
Bérengère la Petite Sorcière (Isabelle Misso ISBN: 8877473789)
Haunted House (ISBN: 031250506x)
Au Royaume de la Peur (Disney ISBN: 2744175005
Le Grand Livre Merveilleux des Sorcières et des Farfadets (ISBN: 2744192430)
Les Calinours: Fêtons l'Halloween (ISBN: 2895434360)
Fantômes et Chair de Poule (Dominique Chauveau ISBN: 2762571766

Educational &Crafts:

Holidays Around the World: Celebrate Halloween (National Geographic ISBN: 1426304773)
Fantasies d'Halloween Huguette Kirby ISBN: 0439989876)

DVDS:

Pooh's Heffalump Movie
Thomas's Halloween Adventures
Diego's Halloween
Dora the Exporer: Dora's Halloween
Casper Meets Wendy
Casper: A Spirited Beginning
The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Activities:

Get book put together (coloring pages, ...)
Decorate the house for Halloween
Carve pumpkins
Paint pumpkins in white then draw scary faces on them... easy ghosts!
Make a Halloween wreath

Bake and decorate sugar cookies in shape of pumpkins...
Bake pumpkin shape cake and cupcakes, decorate
Bake a cake, decorate into a witch, using candy for eyes and black or green licorice for hair

More baking ideas:
http://www.wilton.com/idea/Bag-of-Tricks
http://www.wilton.com/idea/A-Chummy-Mummy
http://www.wilton.com/idea/Bewitching-Hat
http://www.wilton.com/idea/Chocolate-Sweet-Swirl-Cupcakes
http://www.nickjr.com/party/cake_finder/halloween_cupcakes.jhtml
http://www.nickjr.com/recipes/peanut-butter-spiders.jhtml?path=/recipes/all-shows/seasonal_halloween/all-ages/index.jhtml

Cooking ideas:
http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/halloween-sparkle-punch-82992.aspx
http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/bakers-one-bowl-halloween-107094.aspx
http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/eerie-jell-o-jigglers-85110.aspx
http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/ghoulish-pumpkin-cupcakes-82720.aspx
http://www.nickjr.com/recipes/sweet-salty-pumpkin-seeds.jhtml?path=/recipes/all-shows/seasonal_halloween/beginner/index.jhtml
http://www.nickjr.com/parenting/parenting_features/halloween/party/recipes/caramel_apples.jhtml
(What I love doing is finding and printing new Halloween recipes every year. I have gotten together a really nice Halloween recipe book together that is getting ticker with each passing year).

Halloween coloring pages:
http://www.coloring.ws/halloween.html
http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/halloween_pumpkin_decorations.htm

Halloween Mazes & Word Seach: http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/halloween%20puzzles.htm

Halloween *Draw the details* coloring pages:http://www.dltk-holidays.com/halloween/m-draw-details.htm

Footprint ghost craft: http://www.dltk-holidays.com/halloween/mfootprintghost.htm

Updating the unit on China

2009-07-13T13:57:00.001-04:00

I could not get only a few books for my beloved daughter's birthday. I decided to get a *few* more.

CHINA

Map work:

- locate China on the map or on the globe.
- China is the 4th largest country in the world.
- The capital is Beijing.
- Population of 1 330 044 600.

China flag:

Make your own flag/ Printa page and color it: http://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/print/china-coloring-page/

Books on China:

The Story About Ping (Marjorie Flack ISBN: 0140502416)
Pi-Shu, the Little Panda (John Butler ISBN: 1408303612)
A Grain of Rice (Helena Clare Pittman ISBN: 044041301X)
Chinese Children's Favorite Stories (Mingmei Yip ISBN: 0804835896)
First Thousand Words in Chinese (Usborne ISBN: 0794515509)
The Great Wall of China (Leonard Everett Fisher ISBN: 0689801785)
Good Morning China (Hu Yong Yi ISBN: 1596432403)
Behond the Great Mountains (Ed Young USBN: 0811843432)
China's ABC (Norman Pearl ISBN: 1404803580)
Good Morning China (Check-Hung Yee ISBN: 1596432403)
The Five Chinese Brothers (Claire Huchet Bishop ISBN: 0698113578)
The Seven Chinese Sisters (Kathy Tucker ISBN: 0807573094)
Celebrating Chinese New Year (Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith ISBN: 0823415201)
Lady of Ch'Lao Kuo- Royal Diaries (Laurence yep ISBN: 0439164834)
China Tells How the World Began (Miwa Kurita ISBN: 0893469440)
The China Doll (Elza Pilgrim ISBN: 1402722230)
The Emperor's New Clothes (Demi ISBN: 0689830688)

Learn to speak Chinese Mandarin (we offered Rosetta Stone, homeschool 1 to Catherine for her birhtday)

Learn chinese writing:

Learning brush painting:

Chinese Brush Painting Step by Step (Kwan Jung ISBN:1581802072)

Natural Study: Silk Worms

Legend has it that Lady Xi Ling Shi, the 14 year old bride of the Emperor Huang Ti, the so-called 'Yellow Emperor' first discovered silk in 2640 BC.

According to Confucius, as she sat drinking tea under a mulberry tree, a silk cocoon fell from above. She noticed the delicate fibres start to unravel in the tea and so has been credited as the first person to 'reel' or unravel a silk cocoon and use the filament to create a yarn for weaving.

The mulberry silk moth is indigenous to China and the Chinese, realizing the value of the beautiful material they were able to produce by weaving silk thread, kept its secret safe from the rest of the world for more than 30 centuries.

- Make a drawing of the silk worm and its life cycle.

Chinese Food:

In the chinese kitchen, you will find:

in the pantry: baby corn, bamboo shoots, noodles (made with wheat, rice, beans, tapioca, soybeans or seaweeds), rice, sesame seeds, water chestnuts

in the fridge: chicken, pork, shrimp, tofu, won ton wrappers

fresh produce: bell peppers, broccoli, chilies, cilantro, garlic, ginger

Prepare a chinese meal; rice, steamed vegetables, sweet and sour pork, ... Do not forget to eat with chopsticks!

A great book on Chinese recipes: Jean Paré's Company's Coming - Chinese Cooking

A few recipes:

Asian Peanut Beef & Noodles: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/asian-peanut-beef-noodles-88888.aspx

Chinese-Style Fried Rice: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/chinese-style-fried-rice-86901.aspx

Pork Lo Mein: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/pork-lo-mein-107769.aspx

Sweet & Sour Pork: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/slow-cooker-sweet-sour-pork-87605.aspx

Egg rolls, won ton soup, beef with peppers, steamed rice, sticky rice, chinese good fortune cookies... so many recipes to chose from.

Make a chinese lantern:

http://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/print/chinese-lantern-coloring-page/

Have fun with origami!

Listen to chinese music:

Master of Chinese Traditonal Music
Chinese Bamboo Flute Music

Dvds on China:

Families of the World: China
Secrets of China's First Emperor
Modern Marvels- The Great Wall of China

A Unit on Fall

2009-07-12T21:31:00.001-04:00

FALL

Books:

Mouse's First Fall (Lauren Thompson ISBN: 068985837x)
When Autumn Falls (Kelli Nidey ISBN: 0807504904)
Count Down to Fall (Fran Hawl ISBN: 1934359947)
Why Do Leaves Change Colors? (Betsy Maestro ISBN:
Hello, Harvest Moon (Ralph Fletcher ISBN: 0618164510)
By The Light of the Harvest Moon (Harriet Ziefert ISBN: 1934706698)
Flower Fairies of the Autumn (Cecily Barker ISBN: 0723263175)

Activities:

Crafts to Make in the Fall (Kathy Ross ISBN: 0761303359)
A Kid's Fall Ecojournal (Toni Albert ISBN: 0964074257)

Four Seasons Tree Collage: http://www.shirleys-preschool-activities.com/tree-collage.html
Leaf Mobile: http://www.shirleys-preschool-activities.com/leaf-craft.html
Bird Feeder: http://www.shirleys-preschool-activities.com/bird-feeder-craft.html
Autumn Wreath Craft: http://www.dltk-holidays.com/fall/mfallwreath.html
Autumn Tree Craft: http://www.dltk-holidays.com/fall/mfalltree.html

Printables:

http://www.childcareland.com/autumn.html (look in the section of free printables)
http://www.printactivities.com/ConnectTheDots/Leaves.html
http://www.printactivities.com/ConnectTheDots/Fall-Tree-Dot2Dot.html
http://www.printactivities.com/Mazes/Shape_Mazes/Acorn-Maze.html
http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/autum%20maze%202.pdf

Stationnary pages:

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/oak%20leaf%20-%20black.pdf
http://www.primarygames.com/print_zone/stationery/leaves.htm
http://www.primarygames.com/print_zone/stationery/older/leaves.htm
http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/autumn%20writing%20paper%201.pdf
http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/autumn%20writing%20paper%202.pdf

Coloring pages:

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/fall/coloring.htm

Recipes:

Fall Ratatouille: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/fall-ratatouille-84235.aspx
Fall Apple Bavarian Cheesecake: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/fall-apple-bavarian-cheesecake-83378.aspx
Easy Autumn Pear Cake: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/easy-autumn-pear-cake-94550.aspx
Fall Harvest Cobbler: http://www.wilton.com/idea/Fall-Harvest-Cobbler

Bake cookies in the shape of leaves and decorate them
Harvest Lollipop: http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=52A43CB6-802D-F658-0E8CF75A37163F71&killnav=1

A unit about dolls

2009-07-12T18:39:00.003-04:00

I am already planning my youngest daughter's birthday. She only wants one thing; more dolls! I thought it would be fun to put together a unit about dolls, just like I did with China for my oldest daughter. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I am sure we will.

DOLLS

Books:

The Magic Nesting Doll (Jacqueline K. Ogburn ISBN: 0803724144)
The Doll Shop Downstairs (Yona Zeldis McDonough ISBN: 067001091x)
William's Doll (Charlotte Zolotow ISBN: 0060270470)
The Doll's House (Rumer Godden ISBN: 014030942x)
The Best-Loved Doll (Rebecca Caudill ISBN: 0805054677)
The Doll Lady (H. Elizabeth Collins-Varnie ISBN: 0935699244)
The Runaway Dolls (Ann M. Martin ISBN: 0786855843)
The Doll People (Ann M. Martine ISBN: 0786083614)
The Meanest Doll in the World (Ann M. Martin ISBN:
Little Kim's Doll (Kim Yaroshevskaya ISBN: 0888993536)
Babuska,s Doll (Patricia Polacco ISBN: 0689802552)
The All-I'll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll (Patricia McKissack ISBN: 0375837590)
The Gingerbread Doll (Susan Tews ISBN:0618130594)
The China Doll (Elsa Pilgrim ISBN:
Betty Doll (Patricia Polacco ISBN: 014240196x)
The Fairy Doll (Rumer Godden ISBN: 0330442260)
Doll Hospital #1: Tatiana Comes to America (Joan Holub ISBN:
Doll Hospital #2: Goldie's Fortune (Joan Holub ISBN:
Doll Hospital #3: Glory's Freedom (Joan Holub ISBN:
Doll Hospital #4: Saving Marissa (Joan Holub ISBN: 043940181x)
Doll Hospital #5: Danielle's Dollhouse Wish (Joan Holub ISBN:0439401828)
Doll Hospital #6: Charlotte's Choice (Joan Holub ISBN:
The Doll in the Garden: A Ghost Story (Mary Downing Hahn ISBN: 0618873155)
Mud Pies and Other Recipes: A Cookbook for Dolls (Marjorie Winslow ISBN: 0802774873)
Daisy and the Doll (Michael Medearis ISBN: 0916718239)
The Birthday Doll (Jane Cutler ISBN:
Emma's Doll (Brian Patten ISBN:
Puffin Modern Classics The Little Girl and the Tiny Doll (Edward Ardizzone ISBN: 0141325364)
The Richest Doll in the World (Polly M. Robertus ISBN: 082342121x)
Trouble Doll (Jim Buffet ISBN: 0152015019)
The Blacksmith's Gift (Dan T. Davis ISBN: 0972597743)
The Christmas Doll (Elvira Woodruff ISBN: 0590318799)

Activities

Sewing:

My First Doll Book: Hand Sewing (Winky Cherry ISBN: 0935278362)

Learning more about dolls:

Cornhusk, Silk, and Wishbones: A book of Dolls From Around the World (Michelle Markell ISBN:

Paper dolls:

Let each child chose a paper doll set

Baking:

Bake cookies in shapes of dolls and doll's houses and let the children decorate them
Bake a: (...) for each child to decorate...

barbie doll's cake : http://www.wilton.com/idea/Classic-Wonder-Mold-Doll-Cake

purse: http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=4030BDC3-423B-522D-F5CD6CA108C405FD&fid=4030BDD2-423B-522D-F3E85D26F9F4F7AF

*doll house*: http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E3191DF-475A-BAC0-53BA3BD42B6F8C98&fid=3E32B957-475A-BAC0-52A033E22009FA95

doll carriage: http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=5C8205A1-802D-F658-0A1D050BCA881D44&fid=66AA0FBC-802D-F658-00E54ACD4AB59BB3

A Unit on Cheese

2009-07-10T20:54:00.003-04:00

I suddently got the idea of putting this unit together. I hope everyone will enjoy it. I wish I could have found a few more dvds on how to make cheese. ANY and ALL suggestions will be appreciated.

Cheese

Link for the English speakers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheese

Pour les Français: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fromage

Books:

Hamish H and the Cheese Pirates (Sean Cullen ISBN: 0143053116)
Who Moved My Cheese for Kids? (Spencer Johnson ISBN: 0399240160)
Toot & Puddle: The Great Cheese Chase (National Gepgraphic Society ISBN: 1426302231)
The Curse of the Cheese Pyramid (Geronimo Stilton ISBN: 061372223X)
The Old Man Who Loved Cheese (Garrison Keillor ISBN: 0316486159)
Big Cheese for the White House (Candice Fleming ISBN: 0789425734)
Twaddleton's Cheese (Ryan T Higgins ISBN: 0981500706)
Extra Cheese Please: Mozzarella's Journey From Cow to Pizza (Cris Petterson ISBN: 1590782461)
The Adventures of Alphie Mouse: In Search of the Perfect Cheese (Douglas R. E. Insall ISBN: 1412080274)

From Milk to Cheese (Roberta Basel ISBN: 0736842853)
The Home Creamery (Kathy Farrell-Kingsley ISBN: 1603420312)
Cheese: The Making of Wisconsin Tradition (Jerry Apps ISBN: 0942495802)
Macaroni and Cheese, 52 Recipes From Simple to Sublime (Joan Schwartz ISBN: 0375757007)
Grilled Cheese: 50 Recipes to Make You Melt (Marlena Spieler ISBN: 0811841294)
200 Easy Homemade Cheese Recipes (Debra Amrein-Boyes ISBN: 0778802183)
Vegetarian Cookbook: For Cheese Lovers (Tonya Buell ISBN: 1581823460)
The Cheese Book (Jean Paré ISBN: 1895455898)
Philadelphia Cheese Cookbook

DVDS:

The Cheese Nun (PBS)

Activities:

Visit a cheese factory (or two)
Put together a poster board of different cheeses... hard cheese, old cheese, goat cheese, ...
Put together different platters of cheeses (and bread) and enjoy tasting them all
Get out your raclette and enjoy a nice family meal... with cheese
Have fun while eating a cheese fondue
Get cooking and baking... muffins, breads, soup, cakes, cookies, sauces, ...

Bread and cheese

2009-07-10T18:25:00.001-04:00

For some time now, we have given up on getting fast food after grocery shopping. I was getting sick more often so I suggested we get bread and cheese. It has been a wonderful and quite tasty idea. Every week, we chose a bread (there are so many to chose from) then go over to the cheese counter and look around, trying to decide which ones to get. I am amazed at how passionnate my kids are about cheese. They have always loved eating it. It is their number one snack of choice.

I was talking to friends earlier and I had a great idea. Why not put together a unit on cheese? My kids would love it. I asked them and they answered me with a very loud YES! So, I will work on that one tonight. Just imagine, a few platters of different cheeses (and bread), a cheese fondue, different kind of cheesecake, cheese bread, cheese soup, cheese sauce, cheese muffins, ... So many dishes to prepare, so many desserts to eat, lol. We will also visit a cheese factory. And read books on cheese. I am hoping to find a dvd on how to make cheese. Oh, that reminds me, we could also make our own. That will be so much fun.

A small gym area for the kids

2009-07-07T10:01:00.002-04:00

This is something I have wanted for a long time, a gym area for the kids. if Patrick and I have ours then the kids also need theirs.

Last year, I got all of these, as Christmas gifts for the kids:

And this morning, I got this one at a garage sale:

I am only missing the threadmill, exercise bench, jumping rops, hop ball, more weights, obstable course set and a mat for each of the kids. I also want to install mirrors on one wall along with a ?? so the girls can practice their ballet :)

This is going to be a great addition for the kids. I also want to get the exercise dvd for kids from BeachBody. I will put the tv in between the adult gym and the kids' gym so we can all use it.

A great find!

2009-07-02T10:27:00.001-04:00

Look at what I found today:

It has 20 dvds: Space Station, Nascar, Mountain Gorilla, Deep Sea, Mark Twain's America, The Secret of Life on Earth, The Hidden Dimension, Survival Island, Galapagos, Into the Deep, Hail Columbi!, The Dream is Alive, L5 First City in Space, Cosmic Voyage, Destiny in Space, Blue Planet, T-Rex, Fires of Kowait and China: the Panda Adventure.

The price? 46.99$, which is less than 2.50 per dvd. The boys are watching T-Rex and the girls are watching China right now. Mathieu is going from one room to the next, watching a little of both.

A unit on China

2009-06-29T20:28:00.005-04:00

Because my oldest daughter is so fascinated with China, I have decided to put together a unit on the country.

Map work:
- locate China on the map or on the globe.
- China is the 4th largest country in the world.
- The capital is Beijing.
- Population of 1 330 044 600.

China flag:

Make your own flag/ Printa page and color it: http://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/print/china-coloring-page/

Books on China:

The Story About Ping (Marjorie Flack ISBN: 0140502416)
Pi-Shu, the Little Panda (John Butler ISBN: 1408303612)
A Grain of Rice (Helena Clare Pittman ISBN: 044041301X)
Chinese Children's Favorite Stories (Mingmei Yip ISBN: 0804835896)
First Thousand Words in Chinese (Usborne ISBN: 0794515509)
The Great Wall of China (Leonard Everett Fisher ISBN: 0689801785)
Good Morning China (Hu Yong Yi ISBN: 1596432403)

And one on chinese writing:

Natural Study: Silk Worms

Legend has it that Lady Xi Ling Shi, the 14 year old bride of the Emperor Huang Ti, the so-called 'Yellow Emperor' first discovered silk in 2640 BC.

According to Confucius, as she sat drinking tea under a mulberry tree, a silk cocoon fell from above. She noticed the delicate fibres start to unravel in the tea and so has been credited as the first person to 'reel' or unravel a silk cocoon and use the filament to create a yarn for weaving.

The mulberry silk moth is indigenous to China and the Chinese, realizing the value of the beautiful material they were able to produce by weaving silk thread, kept its secret safe from the rest of the world for more than 30 centuries.

- Make a drawing of the silk worm and its life cycle.

Chinese Food:

In the chinese kitchen, you will find:

in the pantry: baby corn, bamboo shoots, noodles (made with wheat, rice, beans, tapioca, soybeans or seaweeds), rice, sesame seeds, water chestnuts

in the fridge: chicken, pork, shrimp, tofu, won ton wrappers

fresh produce: bell peppers, broccoli, chilies, cilantro, garlic, ginger

Prepare a chinese meal; rice, steamed vegetables, sweet and sour pork, ... Do not forget to eat with chopsticks!

A few recipes:

Asian Peanut Beef & Noodles: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/asian-peanut-beef-noodles-88888.aspx

Chinese-Style Fried Rice: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/chinese-style-fried-rice-86901.aspx

Pork Lo Mein: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/pork-lo-mein-107769.aspx

Sweet & Sour Pork: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/slow-cooker-sweet-sour-pork-87605.aspx

Egg rolls, won ton soup, beef with peppers, steamed rice, sticky rice, chinese good fortune cookies... so many recipes to chose from.

Make a chinese lantern:

http://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/print/chinese-lantern-coloring-page/

Have fun with origami!

Listen to chinese music:

http://www.amazon.ca/Masterpieces-Chinese-Traditional-Instrumental-Ensemble/dp/B000005ARL/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1246325634&sr=8-5

This is a short unit, as we will be studying Ancient China in dept with SOTW soon.

Keeping busy

2009-06-29T20:08:00.002-04:00

I have been printing things most of the afternoon. I have the winter pages and apple pages all done, I only need to wait for my study to be all done to start laminating and organizing all those games and pages. Alexandra is going to love those.

Next, I will print activity pages for the alphabet and maybe the crayon theme.

A change in my plans... I have decided to not move the school room in what is the kitchen now. I am moving it into what is the living room instead. I cannot seem to find a good way to get the living room to look good but know exactly how I would in what is the kitchen. So, the living room is going in the kitchen, the kitchen is going in the school room and the school room is going in the living room. Did you catch all that? lol The foyer is still the foyer, although I am thinking of making a place for the piano in there. The dining room will be in between the kitchen and living room. The basement staircase will become the laundry room and pantry. The bathroom and toilet room will become one, finally. The playroom is almost our bedroom now. And our bedroom will be my study in a few days. The basement will still be for the furnases, although we are moving them both to the other chimney and making a room around them. We are also making a bigger and more efficient cold room. The rest of the basement will hold place for a small toilet room, a small home gym with a wall that will have a long mirror on it so the girls can practice their ballet. The rest will be a playroom for the kids, wich means about half the basement. Everyone here loves this new idea, except for Patrick who only sees all the work involved, lol. Obviously, not everything will get done this year but we will do as much as we can. Next year, we concentrate on the yard, movig the garage, building a new fence and front and back porch, landscaping and maybe even a pool.

Yep, keeping busy. Oh, I got all the geography pages done today too. Yay me!

New educational dvds

2009-06-29T19:56:00.002-04:00

Yet again, I have found the perfect dvds to help answer some of my kids' questions:

Those two dvds answer question about under the sea, like How do fishes sleep? Do mermaids relaly exist? What is a clown fish? to What are the nastiest fishes? Is coral alive? Is the dolphin clever? or What is a tarpon?

My kids love love love those dvds and are already asking when the next ones are coming out, lol.

A Unit on Winter

2009-06-23T18:58:00.004-04:00

I have been keeping busy, putting together new and fun units for the kids. Since it has been so hot here these past few days,I decided to skip over planning the Fall unit and move directly to Winter, hoping it would cool me down. It did not happen.

Here is the unit. I am sure some things will be changed and some will be added, as usual.

WINTER unit

Book list:

The Snowflake; Kenneth Libbrecht ISBN: 0896586308
Snowflakes for all Seasons; Cindy Higham ISBN: 158685528x
Le plus beau des bonhommes ISBN: 274591880x
Cher Ours Polaire ISBN: 2700017552
Nanuq, les Mille Vies d'un Inuit ISBN: 2841812952
Ouki ISBN: 2354810261
La Grande Ourse d'Ikomo ISBN: 2081634457
Three Snow Bears ISBN: 0399247920
Le Voyage au Pays des Glaces ISBN: 2700017048
Tadlak, entre Chien et Loup ISBN: 2842776437
Snow Le Petit Esquimau; Françoise Bobé ISBN: 2081614456
Samik et l'Ours Blanc ISBN: 2211065503
The Long Winter; Laura Ingalls Wilder ISBN: 00600581859
A Prairie Boy's Winter; William Kurelek ISBN: 0887766102x
Katy and the Big Snow; Virginia Lee Burton ISBN: 0395185629
The Snowy Day; Ezra Jack Keats ISBN: 0140501827
Magic School Bus in the Arctic; 0590187244
Découvre la Neige et la Glace; Stephen Krensky ISBN: 0439986214

Printed Activities:

http://www.childcareland.com/wintertheme.html

http://www.childcareland.com/wlf.html

http://www.pomverte.com/Hiver.htm

Coloring Pages:

http://www.coloring.ws/winter.htm

http://www.coloring.ws/sports.htm

Crafts:

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/winter/mtpsnowman.html

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/winter/msnowman.html

DVD:

Planet Earth

The Blue Planet

Mighty Machines: Winter Blast

National Gegraphic: Extreme Alaska

National Geographic: Masters of the Artic Ice

National Geographic: Emperors of the Ice

National Gepgraphic: Tigers of the Snow

La Marche des Empereurs

Activities:

Buy a bag of fake snow and make some

Make a glacier (Planet Earth has a kit to make those)

Recipes:

Snow pancakes

Kraft Cheese Igloo http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/kraft-cheese-igloo-84750.aspx

Snow Capped Cookies http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/snow-capped-cookies-87794.aspx

Great Snow Castle http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/great-snow-castle-87836.aspx

Snow-Covered Almond Crescents http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/snow-covered-almond-crescents-82753.aspx

Jell-O Igloo

Snowman cake

Snowman cupcakes http://www.wilton.com/idea/A-Warm-Smile

Falling Snowflakes Cupcakes http://www.wilton.com/idea/Falling-Snowflakes-Cupcakes

Great Ice-scape http://www.wilton.com/idea/Great-Ice-scape

Let is Snow, Man cookies http://www.wilton.com/idea/Let-it-Snow-Man-cookie

Special cake pans: http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=E9935CDE-802D-F658-072A7AE8ED8F12CD&fid=E9935CED-802D-F658-07832170F43A93AA

http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=E99595D6-802D-F658-044AD3391B6E510A&fid=E9959605-802D-F658-036206453781E812

A history timeline

2009-06-23T09:08:00.002-04:00

Someone on my provincial homeschool support group shared a great link with us. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was what I had been looking for! A history timeline, yay. Last night, I printed it and now, I only have to laminate it then put it all together. It will be a great addition to our school room. And, best of all, the kids will be able to add to it. Like when we studied pyramids or Rome, they will find a picture or make a drawing and we will add it to the timeline.

The link:

http://mad43.free.fr/spip.php?article608#

Obviously, it is in French :)

Sharing a great link

2009-06-21T18:03:00.002-04:00

I have been wanting to put together some fun games and more for Alexandra. While looking online, I found this site:

http://www.childcareland.com/

Oh, what a dream for a homeschooling mom! There are so many free printables, I do not know where to start. Of course, the site is having a sale, which is making me wonder if I should not just buy the cd and get almost all the activities then I could chose and print complete sets.

I am thinking, I am thinking. To tell you the truth, I love the idea of putting together a complete set for every month, every special day.

A few of the themes available:

Christmas
Winter
Crayons
Easter
Butterflies
Flowers
Ice Cream Cones
Under the Sea
Autumn
Apples
Bears
Dinosaurs
Cars

And some of the activities:

File Folder Games
Forms
Lacing Cards
Shapes
Matching Mats
Letters and Numbers
Awards

The only thing that cd does not have are the learning centers, but they are also on sale.

The teaching ideas are really great. I need more ink for my printer now, lol. But, I am getting so much things put together for my kids. See, my oldest daughter says she is homeschooling HER little sister. But she says, the games we have are not for homeschooling. They are just to have fun. We need some homeschooling games. That means games on paper, just like the ones I am putting together.

A few things I am happy about: I have my own printer and laminator. I have a glue gun. And I have a $ store not far from here, lol. I love buying all the glitter for the snowmen, the ribbon for the gifts, the little white stuff for the stockings, the stickers for everything I feel needs them and so much more. And the total price is not bad at all. While I put things together, the kids can do crafts, which is one of their favorite activities.

I hope you will check out that site. I know I would have missed out on so much without it.

Thinking of changing math curriculums

2009-06-12T16:25:00.004-04:00

We have used Singapore Math since the very beginning. It is a great curriculum and I enver thought we would use anything else. But, as Catherine moves from grade to grade, she is hating the solving problems. Solving math problems is not always easy but solving them when they are in another language is even harder. So, I think it is time to use something in French. I already bought grade 1-6 of Défi-Math and I think that, even though I would want my daughter to start from grade 1, she would enjoy it much more. The first grades would be like practice so she would move quickly through them. I know it would mean a lot of math work at first but the end result would be worth it. She could still work on her Singapore Math books when she feels like it, because she really loved them (as long as there are no solving problems).

I have a few weeks to think about it and, obviously, I will talk to her about it too.

Books, computer desk and more

2009-06-06T16:46:00.002-04:00

We went garage saling this morning and were quite lucky. I was able to get a small computer desk with chair for the kids'. They were quite happy and now, have been asking Daddy to get their computer on it AND install of the games on it, lol.

I also got several books for them:

I got a very old book titled Catherine à la ferme. I could not not buy it for my daughter Catherine. I got a Star Wars book for the boys and a few more but most were old titles so no pictures online. I also got several Archie comics and sone canning supply, which are always needed around here.

A small unit on asteroids

2009-04-28T20:45:00.001-04:00

I only need to find a museum to visit now.

Asteroids

Books:

Comets, Asteroids and Meteorites (Cynthia Nicolson, ISBN: 1550745786)
The Magic School Bus Out of this World: A Book About Space Rock (Joanna Cole, ISBN: 0590921568)
Asteroids and Meteorites: Catastrophic Collisions with Earth (Timothy Kusky, ISBN: 0816064695)

DVD:

Asteroids; Deadly Impact (dvd, National Geographic)

Unit on chocolate

2009-04-28T17:03:00.001-04:00

I have finally sat down long enough to put this one together. I hope you are going to enjoy it as much as we will.

Chocolate

Computer games:

Chocolatier: Decadence by Design (download on www.playfirst.com)
The Great Chocolate Chase (download on www.playfirst.com)
Chocolatier (download on ww.playfirst.com) *
Chocolatier 2 (download on www.playfirst.com)

Books:

From Cocoa Bean to Chocolate (Robin Nelson, ISBN: 0822546655)
Smart About Chocolate, a Sweet History (Sandra Markle, ISBN: 0448434806)
The Story of Chocolate (Usborne, ISBN: 0746080549)
Chocolate: Riches from the Rain Forest (Robert Burleigh ISBN: 0810957345)
Chocolate by Hershey (Betty Burford ISBN: 0876148305)
Hershey's Kisses Substraction Book (Jerry Pallotta ISBN: 0439337798)
Hershey's Kisses Addition Book (Jerry Pallotta ISBN: 0439241731)
Hershey's Milk Chocolate Multiplication Book (Jerry Pallotta ISBN: 0439254124)
Hershey's Weights and Measures (Jerry Pallotta ISBN: 0439388767)
Hershey's Fraction Book (Jerry Pallotta ISBN: 0439135192)
The Chocolate Lovers: A Children's Story & Cookbook (Van Loon & Gate, ISBN: 1552852334)
Hershey's Classic Recipes (ISBN: 0785337288)*
Company's Coming, Chocolate Everything (ISBN: 1895455669)*
Chocolate Fever (Robert Smith, ISBN: 0142405957)
Chocolate Mousse for Greedy Goose (Julia Donaldson, ISBN: 140502190X)
The Chocolate Train (Amber Jones ISBN: 1425977731)
The Chocolate Train (Joanne Kornfeld ISBN: 097046293x)
Percy's Chocolate Crunch (Random House ISBN: 0375813926)
Curious George Goes to a Chocolate Factory (A.H. Ray ISBN: 0395912148)
Chocolate Island (Karen Dolby ISBN: 0746088191)
Triple Chocolate Brownie Genius (Deborah Sherman ISBN: 1554455351)
Chocolate Cat (Su Stainton ISBN: 0060572450)
Chocolate Touch (Patrick S. Catling ISBN: 0688161332)
The Chocolate-Covered-Cookie Tantrum (Deborah Blumenthal ISBN: 0395700280)

DVD:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Toys:

Smart Snacks: Hide 'n Peek Chocolates (Learning Resources)
Chocolate Fix (Think Fun)
Chocolate Puzzle (Great American Puzzle Factory)
Chocolate-Opoly (Late for the Sky)

Make your own Chocolate Kit (Verve, Inc)

New additions to our homeschool room

2009-04-01T19:07:00.002-04:00

with birthday gifts.

Zachary's birthday was on Monday and besides lots of Lego Pirates, we offered him some really nice gifts that would make him learn things.

This dvd boxset is amazing. I was sure I would not like it but I am glued to the television as much as the kids are. Did you know that some people use insects to make jewels? Beautiful jewels too. I cannot recommand this boxset enough and you can be sure that I will be buying the second one as soon as I find it.

He also got two games, one of logic and one of fun, but that makes the kids count and think of strategy to win:

Finally, he got a really nice M&D puzzle, 100 pieces. A floor puzzle, which is always nice. The kids love them.

William's birthday is coming up, wonder which game I will find for him. Like Zachary, I will find games that go with his birthday theme. I know, I am particular, lol.

Another book for Catherine

2009-03-31T15:01:00.003-04:00

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 :)

2009-03-26T20:25:00.003-04:00

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

2009-03-26T12:10:00.003-04:00

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

2009-03-26T12:01:00.004-04:00

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

2009-03-25T16:50:00.001-04:00

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

2009-03-25T16:24:00.002-04:00

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

2009-03-24T11:10:00.003-04:00

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

2009-03-23T15:29:00.003-04:00

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

2009-03-23T15:27:00.002-04:00

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

2009-03-23T15:18:00.003-04:00

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!

2009-03-18T16:00:00.002-04:00

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

2009-03-17T14:59:00.002-04:00

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

2009-03-12T10:55:00.003-04:00

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

2009-03-09T15:40:00.002-04:00

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 ;)

We never homeschool

2009-02-23T10:24:00.002-05:00

told me William earlier this morning.

I had to laugh but I understand. To a 7yo, four days must feel like an eternity. The kids have been quite sick these past few days. Sick enough that we took a few days off from homeschooling. Add the weekend and voilà, he says we never homeschool.

I am going to homeschool him so much today, it will remind him that it is ok to take a few days off when we are not feeling well. Even if he does not like it, lol.

Le Festin de Jules et César

2009-02-21T13:24:00.002-05:00

When I placed an order at my bookclub last week, I got this really fun book for the kids:

It is the story of two mice brothers who live in a huge house. They decide to go look around for food. One brother cannot help but see all the food around for them to feist on and the other only sees the dangers lurking all around them.

Just about every page has some little doors to open so you can see what is behind the supposed danger. In the end, there really is danger: a big, HUGE, cat, trying to catch them!!

The kids loved the book and had fun reading it again, by themselves. It is when they do that that I know I picked the right book.

A new tool

2009-02-21T13:17:00.003-05:00

I have finally gotten a brand new laminator!!! It is small and even has an handle. And I love it. I can use it cold or hot and there is a place to store the wire in the back. I think this is going to make our activity books much better.

Next purchase, a binding machine. I have already chosen one, just waiting for it to go on sale. I just might go see the store manager and ask him to make me a price. I cannot wait, it will be so much fun for the kids to make their own book covers then I can laminate them then bind all the activity pages together for one very special book. We already have several waiting to get binded. I know I could go ahead and just buy the machine now but really, why pay full price for something when I can wait a while and get it maybe at 1/2 price? That is how I get to buy more things than most people. I wait for sales.

My daughter's new obsessions

2009-02-17T14:59:00.002-05:00

Yes, she has two new ones. Well, sort of.

Catherine always wants to learn more about arts. Recently, she learned in her plainting classes that Leonardo da Vinci was one of the very best artist ever. She has been asking me to learn more about him. We have several books on arts but nothing specifically on him. She asked to get some for her birthday. I have found several ones that she will certanly enjoy.

Her second new obsession? Jack & Annie from the Magic Tree House books. I gave her a book for Valentine's day. As soon as she read that there was a little girl named Annie in that book, she was hooked. She wants to read all of them. Good thing we already have 14 books, lol. The best part is that #19 is titled Leonardo da Vinci :) All the English books at the toy store are 1$ so I plan on getting #15-28 soon. The others, I will get them for her birthday. I sure hope she keeps on reading them because she has not been too excited about reading chapter books in English.

She started reading the first one a few days ago. So far, so good.

We were supposed to homeschool

2009-02-10T12:29:00.002-05:00

yesterday afternoon. But, it was so nice outside, with the sun shining and no wind at all. I suggested to the kids to go play outside for a while. A few moments turned into over three hours! They were having so much fun, enjoying the sun and fresh air, the sliding, the running, making snowmen, playing with each other and the cats. I just could not ask them to come back inside to finish our schooling.

When they came back inside, they were exausted. It was almost time for dinner and all they wanted to do was put their pj's on and read a book. So, they did.

I envy the freedom they get with our lifestyle. They do not always realise it but they have what many children would love to have. I know, I talked to a friend recently and she says her son tells her often how my daughter is so lucky to be homeschooling. How he would love to be too. Yes, she is thinking about it :) I sure hope she decides to do it, it would be so much fun to have someone close to me homeschool. I could teach her kids English and she could teach math to mine :D

Beginning Geography - Land Forms and Bodies of Water

2009-02-02T16:20:00.002-05:00

Today, we started this exciting book of geography. My kids have been hooked with learning more about our great planet and how it looks.

So, they learned about the continents the lands. They got to draw a boat and a house.

I will take pictures of their pages tomorrow and show them off. I will also take pictures of their pages from the last book and share them under the title of the book.

I think we will start the last book of the series on Wednesday.

My list for next year

2009-02-01T17:28:00.003-05:00

I have been thinking of this lately and today, I decided to sit down and write a list of what I want to get for the next year. Turns out that I still have lots to get, lol.

So far, here is what is on my list:

New activity books of Singapore Math for the oldest four.
New activity books of Handwriting Without Tears for the oldest four.
SOTW2 - Text, activity book and cd along with all the books I will find to go wiht it and the cd from Jim Weiss
Teaching Tank - at least several books
Lyrical Life Science 3 and Earth Science 1
Biology, Botany coloring books
Math Unplugged cds (addition, substraction, multiplication, division)
Latin Primer
Vocabulary from Classical Roots
English from the Roots Up - book & cards
Sequential Spelling (depending on where Catherine is at come June)
Wordly Wise 3000 (see above)

I might get more books and another core from Sonlight but again, it will depend on where Catherine is at come June. I also want to get the third and last series of French books of Ratus and more reading books from Usborne. I would also like to get the collection of The Boxcar Children (only have the first one so far) and other reading books for the kids, in English.

Then, I wold like to get Pockedfull of Pinecones because it seems like a book we would enjoy. I also want to re-organise our craft corner and have found exactly what I want.

There are two different ones of this model (different supply) then two other models for smaller parts (all jars filled with supply).

I am sure I will find a lot more to get as I get through the new books, which is why it is such a good thing that I am starting to look and buy so early, lol.

A little experience

2009-01-28T14:57:00.002-05:00

Last week, I decided it was time for my children to eat some popcorn. No, they had never before eaten any. Call me paranoid, call me over protective but I did not want them to eat popcorn. When I was young, popcorn always got stuck in my throat and that scared me.

Anyway, last week, I thought it was time to try it again. My kids LOVED it and they followed my rules without a problem. After a few minutes, I decided to try a little experience with our popcorn, something I had read in a Little House book. Take one cup of popcorn and add one cup of milk, it still adds up to one cup.

I am not really sure it worked like it was supposed to but it sure was good to eat, lol.

Beginning Geography - How To Use A Map

2009-01-28T14:46:00.003-05:00

Today, I started this activity book with my oldest three. They loved it so much that we ended up doing half of it!!

I got our beautiful globe out along with everything else we would need and just started doing one page after an another. It was exciting to see the kids try to answer correctly. They found it easy and said they wanted to finish the book first thing tomorrow morning. Good thing I got all three. At this rate, we will start the other program by the end of next week.

Wondering what we will do next? Keep on reading :)

Sequential Spelling 1

2009-01-27T15:08:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, Catherine started this new program. She said she wanted to learn more how to spell words. So, I got the first book out and it went great. She loved it. When I told her that she would be correcting her own mistakes, she responded with *Is that mean that you will not use your red pen?* lol Yes, it means exactly that, honey.

I took a few pictures of some pages, to show how it works.

And now, I am going to transcript what it says on the back of the book:

Your children get immediate results with Sequential Spelling. (...)

Through six progressive levels of difficulty, Sequential Spelling never askd your students to *study* more words, only to spell them. As students recognize more and more patterns and begin to spell words correctly that they've never seen before - all without *studying* - their confidence and spelling skills soar!

Volume 1 is a great starting point for most students because, while students might be eady to spell a complex word (like frightened), they will learn best by mastering the patterns words follow throughout English spelling. Note that volume levels do not necessaraly correlate with grade levels.

Some of the patterns covered in Sequential Spelling, Volume 1: -in, -et, -et, -ot, -ay, -ime, -and, -ight. Reprensatative words your children can expect to learn: beginning, disagreeing, permitted.

Learning about the human body

2009-01-23T12:29:00.002-05:00

The kids have been constantly asking me questions about the human bosy lately, questions that I do not always have the answer to. So, I decided to get a little help. Two dvds on the human body:

They have answers from why we get the hickups to why we cry or fart or burp or why our blood is read or why we like sugar. Many questions answered.

I just ordered it yesterday so hopefully, it will arrive sometime next week and the kids can finally get all the answers they are looking for.

Taking the day off

2009-01-20T14:05:00.002-05:00

Or are we?

This morning, the kids wanted to just relax and watch tv. So, I said yes and they watch several episodes of *Les Découvreurs*. They love this series and want the last two. I said we would get them later on. Right now, I want them to enjoy and listen to these two new ones.

After Mathieu went down for his nap, the kids got the monopoly game out and played for a few hours. I have been cleaning the basement and found the game yesterday. They had fun playing and learning the rules, although William often challenged them, lol.

As soon as Mathieu was up from his nap, the kids went to play outside in the snow. They took Mathieu with them. He hated it. Cried and yelled the whole time. By the whole time, I mean about 3 minutes, lol. He was scaring the hald dozen cats we have that hang around the house all the time, hoping to get leftovers. The older kids were very disappointed, they were hoping that he would love playing with the snow with them and could have him go down the little *hill* they made. No such luck, after two slides down, he was done. Zachary and Alexandra were not happy since they had not had a chance to go down the slope with him. Oh well, maybe next time.

Soon, the kids will help me prepare dinner: chicken with mushroom, spinach potatoes, green beans with sesame seeds and cupcakes that the kids will get to frost.

All in all, a good day of learning and having fun. Kids do not have to have books to learn. There really is nothing like hands on learning.

The homeschool Christmas tree

2009-01-14T09:47:00.003-05:00

I know, another picture I should have shared some time ago. Oh well, better late than never, right?

All the ornaments and such were made by the kids. They were so proud of each one they made.

Our new bookcases

2009-01-14T09:44:00.003-05:00

I just realised that I never did share a picture of our new bookcases, the ones a friend built for us.

Look at how beautiful and sturdy they are. Yes, they are already filled and guess what? I still have a few boxes of books still filled. AND I have a lot more books I want to get, lol. Not surprising, right? I know we need more bookcases but since we are moving the kitchen into the school room and vise-versa, we are not having anymore build for now. I am not sure how much room I will have then.

A gift from the grandparents

2009-01-12T11:56:00.003-05:00

When Patrick's parents asked the kids what they wanted for Christmas, the kids said a dvd boxset, like the previous year. We had a great time watching the series of Les Mystérieuses Citées d'Or all year long. I had gotten the kids two boxsets too; one on life and the other on the human. They watched a few episodes almost every single day. Patrick too. Anyway, when it came time to decide which boxsets they wanted, they asked for more of those. We should get these two sometime this week:

I saved 20$ because I ordered two. And since I was ordering anyway (I get free shipping on orders over 75$), I decided to get two dvds on space:

There are 27 dvds in this series, all about space. It goes into details on a variety of subjects, all related to space. I know the kids (and us) will enjoy watching them and learning. Now, I will need to start putting together a unit on space. For Christmas, I got these for the kids, as their 24th of December gifts:

The rainbow for the girls:

The moon for Zachary:

And the Star Theatre for William:

Mathieu got a toy that makes music and a little light show but I cannot find a picture of it.

They loved going to sleep looking at their new gifts. And I think we can use them to learn too.

Christmas gifts for homeschooling

2009-01-11T17:20:00.002-05:00

This year, we got an artificial tree for the school room. I suggested that the kids make their own ornaments and decorations for that tree. They promtly got started and within a day or so, the tree was happily decorated. From top to bottom. I got the homeschool gifts wrapped and put them under that tree. The kids thought it was the most beautiful tree ever. A few days before Christmas, I had them open those gifts and they were so happy.

This is a picture of the tree. I took it today, before taking it down:

And these are some of the things I got for them:

I had ordered a few more but they did not arrive yet. Some I could simply not get because of my location. I really wanted a wooden puzzle of the USA and the See & Spell set from M&D. Maybe I will look on E-Bay...

A few pictures of the kids enjoying opening their gifts:

ARTistic Pursuits

2009-01-07T16:13:00.003-05:00

When I first got this art program, I thought only Catherine would be interested. From the first lesson, the boys enjoyed learning and coming up with their very own drawings.

The first lesson was *Artists Compose: To Place Together. They had to look at composition and discuss what they saw. They also answered several questions I asked them about that particular painting. They did really good. So, we moved on to:

Project - You Compose!

The kids had to draw a picture of something they had seen in our home. Zachary was the only one to draw a scenery. Catherine and William both drew objects they had seen.

Zachary:

William:

Catherine:

The dinosaur period

2009-01-07T15:37:00.004-05:00

I am going to try and update my blog a little.

When we started our dinosaur study, I had the kids look at this book:

The kids love all our Usborne books but all from this series are favorites. When it is time for a story before bed, they will often pull out of of them and want to look and find the images instead of reading a book.

I also pulled out several books that helps kids to learn how to draw dinosaurs and prehistoric life:

May seem like a lot of books (and I did not post them all) but some were gifts and some were bought in garage sales and used books stores. Yes, some were bought brand new too. Anyway, the kids had much fun drawing several pages each of dinosaurs:

Catherine's work:

William's work:

Zachary's work:

Everyday, we sat all together and read a fun book:

This one sure was long to read. I remember us cuddling all together on my bed, reading a few pages, taking a one minute nap then read a few more pages then nap another minute. The kids thought it was so fun.

This one was a fast read and Ali reminded us that it was *her* book:

This was the biggest, most successful project of our dinosaur study:

It was very long to cut every little piece but it was fun to put it together. I would cut a few items everday and we would put them together. We saw the scenery come together, little by little. This was the result:

Of course, we had more books to read and so many things to learn too. I even found a few sites for the kids to explore and play on.

This site is full of info on dinosaurs and has some fun games to play:

http://nature.ca/discover/exf/index_f.cfm

Week 3, Day 4

2008-11-24T11:08:00.002-05:00

Today, Alexandra did a LIttle Einsteins puzzle:

And we read this French book:

We also read the story *Beauty and the Beast* and did pages 1-5 of Hooked on Phonics- Colors and Shapes. She learned about the color yellow. I have discovered that my daughter is very meticulous and colors inside the lines as much as possible.

Zachary did Lesson 1 of Singapore Math, 2A. The next French book I had gotten for him really did not work out well so we skiped it. I will find something else instead, probably just start him with the same program William is doing, just at a slower pace. In writing, he did p. 22-23.

William did p. 116-119, Review 4 in Singapore Math, Les Sons, p. 44-46, Trousse p. 29-31 and Writing p. 59-62.

Catherine did Singapore Math p.

BBL.

Long time no update

2008-10-21T11:42:00.002-04:00

I know, I have not been good at keeping this blog updated. I will try to work on it today and tomorrow. Since I write down everything my kids worked on, it will be easy to update. Easy but loooong. I also have to download some pictures and try to upload them on glowfoto but that takes a long time. Ever since I got a new camera, I can only upload 2-3 pictures at a time.

So, see you later?

Week 3 Day 3

2008-09-24T09:34:00.003-04:00

This morning, Alexandra started her homeschooling by working on her very own workbook! She had been asking to also have her activity books to work in so I got them out for her. She did p. 2-3 of Hooked on Phonics, Colors and Shapes. She learned about the color red.

Then, we read *Zoé et Théo au Zoo*:

And The Frog Prince:

And completed her routine with playing with the Caillou Logico game:

Zachary started a brand new Singapoe Math book, 2A! He was so very happy about that. He did p. 4-5, lesson 1. He also did the last page of Explode the Code B, p. 78. And, p. 2-21 of HWT.

Week 3 Day 2

2008-09-23T16:47:00.002-04:00

Today, Ali played with the domino game again. She really likes all the animals on it. Then, we read *The Little Mermaid* from the same book in English. Followed by a French book: *Zoé et Théo à la Ferme*:

Finally, she did this really much harder puzzle of Strawberry Shortcake:

Zachary did p. 78-80 of Singapore Math, p. 76-77 of Explode the Code B and p. 18-19 of HWT.

William did exercise 48, p. 114-114 of Singapore Math, p. 38-40 of Les Sons, p.23-25 of Trousse and p. 54-55 of HWT.

Catherine did p. 54-58, exercises 21-22 of Singapore Math, lesson 15-16 of Bled, read *Ralette Fait des Crèpes*:

She did p. 3-4 of Explode the Code 5 and read *The Wish Fish*:

She really enjoys reading right now which is really nice. Of course, most of her days are spent drawing. Some days, she does very little of anything else but that is fine with me. As long as she is happy and learning, she can draw as much as she wants to.

I finally found something I was looking for!

2008-09-23T16:27:00.004-04:00

Since last year, I have been looking for a globe for the kids. I did not just want any globe, I wanted *the* globe. Sears has it but it was so darn expensive, I really did not want to pay that much (169.99$). So, a few weeks ago, thinking that I would never find it at a reasonnable price, I bought another model from Leap Frog. I really did not like it much. I guess it was because I really wanted the other one. I got it out of the box and left it on the shelf. I did not throw away the box, as I usually do. I am not sure why but two weeks later, the box was still cluttering the playroom.

Much to my surprise, when I went to the toy store in town, I found THE one I wanted. It was 76$! Wow! I asked an employee if she could put it in the back for me so I could come back and exchange it with the one I had bought only two weeks earlier. She said yes (I am a really good client, lol). I am so very happy now. That combined with the computer game I got the kids (Lapin Malin, Le Globe Magique) and Maps and Globes and Galopping Around the Globe, I think the kids and I are going to be having a lot of fun. Once the last two finally arrive, I mean.

Oh, here is a picture of our brand new globe:

And the link to the info:

http://www.sears.ca/gp/product/B001ECJCWK/ref=sr_11_1/105-6526290-3973266?ie=UTF8&keywords=smartglobe&searsBrand=core

Week 3, Day 1

2008-09-23T14:25:00.001-04:00

Another week has started.

Today, we started by watching Signing Time, volume 3, Everyday Signs. How fun it was to learn yet more signs. Soon, we will be able to communicate by signs only ... when we want to.

Alexandra started by playing with the game Mix and Match again. She really seems to love it. We played several games before moving on to story time.

Then, we read Sleeping Beauty from the same English book. Followed by a French book: Zoé et Théo; Joyeux Anniversaire:

Finally, she learned about colors by playing with these:

Zachary did p. 76-77 of Singapore Math, Explode the Code B p. 74-75 and HWT p. 16-17.

William did p. 112, exercise 47 of Singapore Math, Les Sons p. 34-36, Trousse p. 20-22 and HWT p. 46-51.

Catherine did Singapore Math p. 49-53 exercise 19-20. She also did lesson 13-14 of Bled and read *Le Bonhomme qui Souffle le Vent*:

She finally got to start Explode the Code 5, lesson 1, p. 1-2 and read *The Sun and the Wind*:

I am still waiting for my maps and geography books to arrive. I also ordered a few more books to go with SOTW. And, thanks to my friend Melissa, I ordered a program to learn latin. I hope everything gets here soon, I am so impatient to add to our routine. Within the next month, we will add Latin, geography and art.

Week 2, Day 3

2008-09-23T11:14:00.002-04:00

Early this morning, we watched Singing Time, volume 2.

Then, Alexandra did a new (new to her, lol) puzzle that her sister lended to her:

We then read the story of *Jack and the Beanstalk* for our English book. Followed by a French book: *Zoé et Théo, une Bouteille à la Mer*:

Those books are so nice and easy to read. They keep my little girl wanting more, which is exactly what I want. Finally, she and Catherine played this game:

Zachary did p. 72-75 of Singapore Math, p. 72-73 of Explode the Code B and p. 14-15 of HWT.

William did p. 110-111, exercise 46 of Singapore Math, p. 31-33 of Les Sons, p. 17-19 of Trousse and p. 40-45 of HWT.

Catherine did exercises 17-18 of Singapore Math, lessons 11-12 of Bled, read *Ralette au Feu d'Artifice*:

And read *The Fox and the Stork* in English:

Week 2, Day 2

2008-09-23T10:40:00.002-04:00

Today, Alexandra wanted to play the new game we got with her Sonlight program so we did:

Then, we read another story for the same English book: Rapunzel. She was very sad when the wicked witch blinded the prince and cut off the princess' hair. *Méchante sorcière, she said.

We also read another book for Zoé et Théo: Prennent le Train:

And she played this game with her big sister Catherine:

Zachary did Singapore Math, lesson 17, Explode the Code B, p. 67-70 and HWT p. 12-13.

William did Singapore Math p. 108-109, exercise 45, Les Sons p. 28-30, Trousse p. 13-16 and HWT p. 34-39.

I realise that it does not tell much of what the boys learned but as soon as I figure out how to get my scanned pages onto the blog, I will. I will scan many pages of their work regularely.

Catherine did Singapore Math p. 40-43, exercises 15-16. She did Bled, lessons 9-10 and read *La Cachette de Ralette*:

She read *The Fox and the Crow* for her English book fo the day:

Again, we watched Signing Time Volume 2. It is fun to see how much the kids are learning a new language. Even Mathieu has been singing away.

May not be regular at posting

2008-09-19T08:14:00.001-04:00

but we are still working hard.

We have been busy with homeschooling and renovations. Hopefully, I will get an hour or so of free time this afternoon to update on our last two weeks. I have so much to share. And thanks to my friend Melissa, I now have ordered the perfect tool to learn Latin more easily.

BBL.

Week 2, Day 1

2008-09-08T09:36:00.004-04:00

As written down on our new schedule, we started the day by watching Signing Time. It was fun to learn new signs, like play, stop & share. I did notice that the kids were bored on day 4 and 5 of the same dvd so I think that they will watch the same dvd for four days then on the fifth day, we will re-watch a previously learned dvd. That will give us a little extra practice. And, also on Friday, they will get a test to see how much they learned and remembered of the signs.

...

Well, seems like we got today off too. I had to take William to the hospital and it litteraly took most of the day. We got back home at 5pm. Ugh. Oh well, he is doing better, I am feeling more relaxed since I know my son is ok and we can homeschool on Friday instead. We took our day off on Monday instead of Friday. That is fine, it is why I homeschool after all.

Day 1 (Tuesday)

Alexandra started her homeschooling by doing William's big dinosaur floor puzzle. That girl really cannot get enough puzzles, lol.

After that, we read another story for the book *A First Book of Fairy Tales* The Selfish Giant. She loved that story.

Then we read *Zoé et Théo en promenade*.

Finally, she played with these:

Zachary started with doing P. 67-68 of Singapore Math then P. 66 of Explode the Code B. He is almost done with both books. He then finished with p. 10-11 of HWT.

William did p. 105-107 of Singapore Math, exercise 44. P. 24-26 of Les Sons and p.36-42 of Trousse and finished the day with HWT p. 27-33.

Catherine did Singapore Math, p. 35-39, exercises 13-14 then Bled, lesson 7-8 and read *Mistouflette et le Trésor du Tilleul*:

Then, she read *Friends for a Princess* in English:

All together, we did start the day by wathcing volume 2 of Signing Time:

Another good day.

We took Friday Off!

2008-09-08T09:33:00.002-04:00

Yep, after three days of homeschooling, I decided that we needed a day off. Having a day of fun is always fun, lol. Seriously, I thought we had done so good in those first three days that it would be nice to just play games, read books and watch fun movies. I bought the kids a new series that teaches them about evolution, men, the body, history and so much more and they have been watching it with great interest. Whenever they are watching it and Patrick walks in the house, he joins them and forgets about everything else. That is perfectly fine with me, I love getting time to write or read or take pictures or work on my cross stich project.

Week 1, Day 3

2008-09-04T14:00:00.004-04:00

Alexandra did a Diego puzzle (it belongs to Zachary, who was happy to let her use it). We read these books:

From this last book, we read the first story, Cinderella. And last, she played this game:

Zachary did Singapore Math, p. 62-66 *Recognizing ordinal numbers*, Explode the Code p. 64-65 and HWT p. 8-9.

William did Singapore Math p. 102-104, HWT p. 22-26. In French, he did Les Sons p. 18-23 and Trousse p. 30-35.

Catherine did Singapore Math p. 30-34, Bled exercises 5-6 and read these books:

I know the English books are very simple but it is important that she be able to understand all she reads. So, short is better for now. Remember that English is a second language even if I am homeschooling my kids half in French and half in English.

Week 1, Day 2

2008-09-04T13:26:00.004-04:00

Alexandra:

Ali did our big floor puzzle of Winnie the Pooh, the one I bought for Catherine many years ago:

Together, we read these books:

And she got to play this game:

Zachary did P.56-61 of Singapore Math 1B, Matching events to day-time or inght-time. He did Explode the Code B, pages 62-63 and HWT, pages 6-7.

Wiliam did p. 99-101 of Singapore Math (Numbers to 20), HWT pages 12-21 and in French, Les Sons p. 14-17 and Trousse p. 27-29.

Catherine did Singapore Math p. 24-29, Bled lessons 3-4 and read these books:

And, of course, we all listened to Signing Time, volume 1.

SOTW1: Introduction

2008-09-02T12:24:00.002-04:00

Here we are, finally starting this history study!

Last week, I took the kids to a museum to learn more about fossils. We also went to look for fossils. It was a gerat experience and we learned a lot.

On Tuesday, we read the intro of the book then read this book:

The kids are now working on their own family tree. Each one is making his/her own.

Week 1, Day 1

2008-09-02T08:47:00.006-04:00

Here is what we did today:

Alexandra played this game. Since it was easy for her, I decided to mix a few puzzle sets of logic to make it harder. It was not really. Not for her. She has been making puzzles everyday lately and constantly asks for more.

We read two books, one in French:

One in English:

And finally, she played this game card, her favorite. She always says how good she is, lol.

Together, we watched and practiced our sign language:

We will be watching this one every morning this week. I am hoping that by Friday, the new signs will be learned. So far, so good though because some of those signs were learned from the Baby Signing Time dvds.

Catherine:

Catherine has done so well today, she really amazed me. Last year, she did not like doing math that much. So, we find ourselves still working on the second grade math books. That is fine, I do not believe in forcing kids to learn when they are not ready. I was proven right in this way of thinking because every math page we did earlier, Catherine understood right away. She did much more than I had planned. So, she did *Numbers to 1000*, exercises 1-7. She read her English book:

I did not realise that I had not printed the Explode the Book 5 so no English today. I cannot print it now, the computer that our homeschool stuff is on is not working properly, I need to wait for Patrick.

In French, I decided to have her redo the entire book of Bled, CP/CE. I feel like an entire review is necessary. French is not her favorite subject, it is so darn hard to learn compared to English. Because we homeschool, I can permit myself to have her redo that book, just to make sure that she knows all the rules and such. It worked really well too, she did two lessons plus we had a spelling test and she did amzing, again. This is really the right thing to do. We are in no rush to get the second book done so why not? Btw, the first book is for two years of French. It should get done by end of October.

She read this book again (yes, again!):

Zachary:

Zachary has to finish two activity books before moving on to the others. He did a few pages of Explode the Code C, Handwriting Without Tears and Singapore Math 1B. NOthing for French right now, I still have books in boxes here.

William is doing book 2 of 7 in French (Trousse the Dépannage en Lecture). He loves those, much more than the Les Sons series but that lat one is the one teaching him to read. He also did a few pages of Singapore Math and HWT. No Explode the Code for him either today.

I cannot wait for all our boxes to be emptied and all our books to be at the right place on our new (future) shelves.

Tomorrow morning

2008-09-01T21:00:00.002-04:00

we start our new year.

It seems silly to call it a new year since I feel we never stop learning.

I need to shut off the computer and take a last look at our new schedules. Yeah, I know, I am a schedule freak, what can I say? lol

I really should go take a last look and go to bed. 5am will get here soon enough.

I will be back tomorrow night to post about our day and maybe try to scan the pages and other things we will have done.

See you tomorrow night?

Fossils!

2008-08-28T19:40:00.003-04:00

Today, I took the kids to a very interesting museum. Here is the link to it: http://fossiles.qc.ca/index.php It took many hours of driving to get there but it was well worth it. We first had a picnic at the park before going in.

A few pictures from our picnic:

Once in the museum, the kids said hi and started asking questions. The guide could barely answer one question before two more were asked. She was very patient and I thank her for that. The continuous exhibition was *200 Million Years before the Era of the Dinosaurs* and we enjoyed looking at it. We got to see montage of the Earth, the continents as they were so long ago and more importantly, we saw fossils and learned how they became fossils. It was all very easy for the kids to understand and when they wanted more details, they were not shy, they asked for more. They each had a magnifying glass (??) and were excited to go from one podium to the other and find out more about each fossils.

Mathieu signing milk, which he got. Ah, the simplicity of nursing on demand.

Ali took this picture:

Alexandra and Mathieu having fun:

After that, we went on a mini-safari: we went to look for our own fossils, the ones we could bring home! William was veyr lucky, he found many very quickly and his were HUGE! Catherine found two, Zachary found one and... a ant house. I know, not the right word but ykwim. Alexandra was lookking for her own fossils but at 2, I think she was more interested in just running around, going from me to her siblings. She even brought a bottle of water to our guide, lol.

This was really an amazing experience, one I am anxious to repeat. We had such a great time. And now, we are ready to start SOTW. Tomorrow. The kids said our vacation lasted long enough, it is time to start homeschooling again. So funny.

The final week

2008-08-24T19:49:00.002-04:00

of getting things ready and *resting* before we start homeschooling again.

Ah, that was a nice summer. It was so fun to not even think about homeschooling. Lol, I realise that what I jsut wrote is so untrue. What I mean is not having to homeschool for two months. I love thinking and researching what we will use and what I need to get to make our learning more fun. I know I often go overboard as far as getting things but this is fun for me. It is fun for the kids also. And I know I am doing it right because they have been asking to homeschool again for many weeks now. They are getting anxious to learn, to read, to do the crafts I have planned, to learn more Sign Language and more Spanish, to do the trips I have told them about.

Speaking of trips. If the weather permits, we will be going on a dinosaur dig next weekend! I cannot wait, it is going to be SO much fun. I wanted to wait until we do chpater one of SOTW but the site closes after Labor Day. Oh well, we will visit first then learn after.

I ahve to admit that I also found a very special prehistoric game for the kids. They wanted to play with it right away but I told them they needed to wait until we learned about the cavemen and all. Lol, another reaso why they want to start homeschool asao, hey? New games, new books, new globe, new crafts, new dvds (I got them the series about the Earth and the dinosaurs and have let them watch it as often as they asked. It is so interesting.), and soon, a new school room. I told them that they will be able to cuddle in front of the fireplace and read books together once the room is done and they have been talking about almost everyday. Wonder if we can grill marshmellows in an electric fireplace? :p

SOTW1 - How Do We Know What Happened?

2008-08-21T16:26:00.003-04:00

Here is all we will use and do for the introduction. I will post all the pages and pictures of what we will have done soon.

How Do We Know What Happened?

First, we will read the first part of the intro: What is History? After, we will read this book:

Then, we will do our own family tree. We might also take a look at this book and see which writting project would work for us.

The rest of the week (yes, we will be skipping the other two activities), we will read books on the planet, on fossils, about archeology, on volcanos and do some fun things.

It looks like a lot but we will take an entire week for this intro. I plan on getting a volcano model and have fun with the kids.

On Friday, we will read the part *What is Archeology* and talk about it. We will finish the week by reading these books:

The next weekend, if the weather permits, we will take the kids on a dinosaur dig weekend a few hours from where we live.

Other activities planned: go look at the archaeology digs in a park a few hours from here, bake some stone cookies (What are they called in English? No idea but I will post the recipe later on) and we will paint beautiful things on some stones.

P.S. I will post pictures of each of our activities, like the family tree, the volcano, the digging and more.

SOTW1 - Almost ready to start

2008-08-21T16:17:00.002-04:00

I have been happily getting things ready for our new history project this year. We are going to do Story of the World 1, Ancient Times. If you know me, you know I go all the way as far as planning and buying for our projects. I even went as far as look for extra craft projects for each chapter and I found some really nice ones.

Keep reading for more details.

Signing- A Third Language

2008-08-18T09:03:00.003-04:00

My kids will soon be trilingual!!! They alrayd speak French and English and now, learning ASL is coming along so well. By the end of the year, they will be able to say they *speak* three different languages!

After watching the two Baby Signing Time dvd's, I saw how fast the kids (and I, lol) were learning sign language and were hooked on it. I ordered season 1 & 2 (along with the cd's). We have been watching a new dvd every week now and itis so much fun to be able to communicate without talking. Alexandra often comes to me ans signs that she wants to watch Baby Signing Time. I love that and I am so proud of her.

I printed off all the free activities from the site and made a book with them. As we use a new dvd, we will do the activities. Most are crafts, my kids favorites.

Now, in case you are wondering, yes there are a few more things I want to get for signing, like books and a bingo game and also, maybe some flash cards for the trips?

:D

Catherine's Curriculum

2008-08-15T16:36:00.002-04:00

Catherine is my oldest, my *guinea pig*, lol. With her, I test which books work and which way I go with the others. She ha a HUGE passion for learning languages, especially English. She was reading in English long before she was reading in French.

For French, we are continuing to use the Bled series, as it is the very best:

I also got her the red collection of books of Ratus because she loves to keep on reading stories about the green rat:

In English, we are using Sonlight as usual:

I also got her the Electives as she loves anything that has to do with art, painting and music:

And, just to make her very very happy, I got the ARTistic program:

As for math, still using Singapore Math but she will be finishing level 2 before moving on to level 3:

And for writing, Handwriting Without Tears 3:

I think she is going to be happy with her curriculum. Of course, she still has some things to complete from last year first.

William's Curriculum

2008-08-15T14:54:00.002-04:00

William's curriculum is a bit more intense than the younger ones. He has more to learn (just like Catherine has more to learn than him).

In English, he uses Sonlight Core 1 with the Electives.

For math, Singapore Math for him too:

I also got him the extra practice books, as he loves doing math.

For writing, he will keep on using Handwriting Without Tears:

In French, he will finish the last of these two series:

Once he is done with those, he will start the second serie of Les Sons. And, he will be able to do the Ratus serie, just like Catherine did. Along with reading the books he has been looking at for so long:

After he is done with all of those, he will do the Bled serie, which is what all the kids will use until college:

Of course, there will be many games, cards, art projects, music lessons, karaté classes, ... It seems like we have so much to do, to learn, to see but so little time to do it all. Good thing we are homeschooling because I would be miserable. We are already planning next summer's vacation!

Zachary's Curriculum

2008-08-15T14:47:00.005-04:00

I have a few minutes before we leave to try out the van and since the kids are all sitting down and watching Passe-Partout, I am using the opportunity to share Zachary's curriculum. It ia just about all the same books I already used with Catherine and William. I did add a few things here and there.

In English, we use Sonlight's Core K.

I love that program and really enjoy being able to use it a third time with my third child. The books are just as fun to read the third time than the first. Although some have been read much more than three times.

For writing, Zachary will use this program:

The kids love writing letters with those big wood blocks. And the slate is used every single day, for simply writing down how many pages are left to do to writing sweet little messages to each other.

For math, he will go on with Sinpgapore Math. That program is amazing. I have added manipulatives with just about every page of the books and the kids enjoy learning with those. One day, I will share my list of each book here.

For French, Zachary will use the same program his older siblings used and loved:

This is not simply a program with activity books. No, each level has an activity book that comes with 10-20 games that goes with it. So, the child can *play* 30 minutes, have fun and learn before doing 5-6 pages. That program helped Catherine want to learn to read. Before that, she simply refused to.

And once we are done with Sonlight (it does not take a year to do the K program), Zachary will get to do Five in a Row 1:

I know it sounds like so much but it really is not. Zachary gets up before all the other kids to make sure he homeschool first. Yeah, that means that sometimes, I have to send him back to bed at 3am! lol

Oh, I forgot about all the computer programs we have, the games and other books. I guess I will try and post a week by week of the kids' learning starting next September. It will help me keep the portfolios up to date for the school.

Alexandra's Curriculum

2008-08-15T10:47:00.000-04:00

Because my little Ali Sugar Bug has been asking so much to homeschool too, I have decided to honor her request. She wants to learn but most of all, she wants to do like her older siblings do.

Which means that Sonlight got the new P3/4 Core out just in time:

That will cover most of the English part of it. I will also add the Before Five in a Row program once we are done with Sonlight. I got it for Zachary about two years ago and he enjoyed it.

We have not used the Holiday book much though but we do enjoy the books. Catherine has been reading each of them all by herself. She is getting so good at reading in English.

I got this game for Ali, to teach her about logic:

Since it is about Caillou, she is going to love to play with it. And these games of cards too:

(We already have all of those and more.)

Then, the *toys* I got a few years back for Zachary are still in great shape for Ali now:

Yes, some of them we gave to Ali.

I am hoping to find a few more Bingo games while in vacation. If not, I will need to order them online. Which reminds me that I really need to make a list of things I want to find.

For French, I will get a few more Imagerie books to add to the ones we already have. The kids love those books and frequently bring them to read/look at when we go somewhere:

Then, I got her this book for her to learn more about nature:

We already have a few of the little books with the same caracters and the kids enjoy them. We also have just about the complete collection of Martine, the books Ali enjoys so much.

I can still remember reading those books to Catherine when she was a baby. I would enjoy them more than she would but still, beautiful memories, lol. I remember reading them as a child. I remember also reading them to my nieces.

Then, I will get other book collections out to read with Alexandra. She loves to sit next to me and listen as I read to her.

By having her very own curriculum, I think she is going to feel more like a big girl. Even if I want to keep her little a bit longer.

P.S. I also got her the kit from Hooked on Phonics Pre-K that includes 5 (I think) activity books, 1 cd, one dvd and a few other little things. And, another activity book in French for the alphabet. I really hope that she will be happy with all of this. I know she is ready to start learning more. Here I was hoping to wait until my kids were 7yo to homeschool them. I have realised that my wishes are not always the same as my kids'. I do see the advantages of my kids homeschooling sooner rather than later. I just wanted them to stay kids for longer.

A much needed blog for just homeschool

2008-08-15T08:45:00.000-04:00

I have been thinking about this lately and decided that I needed a blog to talk about just our homeschool things. I will be able to share it with the teacher that evaluates my kids learning every year. What I plan to do is write all they did each day, from reading to writing, to activity books to crafts, to field trips to movies, everything will be written down. That way, I will never have to put together another portfolio and the teacher will be able to see, from day to day, what my kis are learning.

Also, I hope it will give others some ideas for their kids. You do not have to homeschool to have fun learning with your kids.

So, I will be back later on to post the messages I wrote about my kids' curriculums (and more).

Make sur eto check back often, this is going to be fun!