If You Happen to Be Studying Ancient Egypt

We have finally finished studying about all the people and places in Ancient Egypt.I was not for sure how the kids were going to like using Sonlight, but they love it. We took one day last week and put together a lapbook/notebook style flip book of Ancient Egypt. I used it as a way to see if they remembered many of the things they read about and ya know what? They did! YAY! That is always a plus.

I used the free lapbooking unit study that is available from Homeschool Share. It was easy to put together and we really enjoyed it. There are a couple of recipes included that you and your family could make. We just ran out of time.

Some of the reading books that we enjoyed while studying Ancient Egypt were
Mara, Daughter of the Nile (Puffin Story Books)

The Golden Goblet (Newbery Library, Puffin)

The Usborne Book of World History

These three books alone make a wonderful study for everyone to enjoy! We are now going to be studying Ancient Greece and Robert is really excited. We will be talking about The Trojan War, Greek mythology, and we have a special field trip in the works for the Parthenon in Tennessee!

How has homeschooling been going for you?
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The Nina and the Pinta~A Must See Field Trip

The ships were huge!

The information learned was invaluable! Did you know that back in Columbus' time, that the average age of a ship mate was 14-19 years old?

Kayla was really intrigued by this contraption. I am still not sure what it is. We are going to look it up and find out what it is.

There were many plaques on the ship with notes about what each item was. I took as many pictures as I could of them so that the kids and I can test our knowledge later this week.

All in all, we had a wonderful time. I was able to snap a few photos of the kids as they enjoyed listening to the guide on the ship,

and I was able to get them to stand still for a few seconds so I could snap a new photo of their lovely little(not) bodies!

And to top it off, we were able to get a family group photo (rare--because I am always the one behind the camera)!

(uh--yeah, that's me--the one in the pink. I'm the SHORT one)

This was a great field trip. Check to see if they are coming to your area--www.thenina.com

Reading Just for Fun

Our trip to the library this week netted some great books. In fact, each of us has a growing stack to read . . .just for the pure enjoyment of it!

Robert got books on different battles. He loves to read stuff like that and he also loves old guns. He found a book full of information on military guns from the older days. He also found a book on starting your own lawn care business. He has been mowing yards the last couple of years for money and has decided he might want to start his own lawn care business. I think it is a great idea, but I asked him to study up on first before he jumped in with both barrels.

Kayla loves books on rocks and minerals, plus she is wanting to learn morse code so she racked up on those kind of books. We also found out we have a humming bird, so we got a couple of bird books to see what we can do about feeding it. The Almanac book is the neatest. Lots of cool information in that book!







We found these books for school. Since we are studying Ancient Egypt right now, I am looking for anything to do with that and some hands on Biology stuff.




This is the book that I chose for myself, so that I can read up on my very spoiled chihuahua. He is a mess.

Try taking your kids to the library sometime just to let them choose books that they like--not anything that is scheduled, but just books that peak their interest. It will cause the reader in them to begin to flourish.

Weekly Wrap Up: The Kids Have Their First Cooking Class

Our 2nd full week back to school is going pretty good. I think I finally got a handle on the curriculum and how to make it work for our family. Trying to follow it how it is written is just WAY too much overload for me and for them, so I am tearing it apart and doing it my own way.

This week the kids had their first cooking class of the year. If you remember, I told you that Stephen and I are really going to focus on many life skills this year that the kids will need when they are adults. Some of those that we will be studying this year is home-ec, auto shop, wood working class, and co-op (allowing the kids to build a work ethic by working with us).

Our cooking class this week went really well. The kids first lesson was on eggs. They learned all about them and was able to make french toast and scrambled eggs.

I think it is super important for the kids to be able to cook for themselves when they get older so that they do not have to rely on fast food or just sandwiches to feed them.

The kids, I think, were shocked that they actually prepared such a wonderful tasting meal. As they ate their breakfast we sat and talked about other meals that we could come up with using french toast and scrambled eggs. We have a great supply of menu ideas--some I am sure that you will be seeing here!

My son's remark after it was all said and done was--"Mom, now I know I can do this by myself!" He was quite proud of himself. Kayla was just as equally proud (but she cooks with me all the time anyway and does a great job at it too)

Oh--and the cooking lessons that we are using are free on the Internet from Future Christian Homemakers. You can access those lessons HERE.

This post is linked to Weekly Wrap up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Weekly Wrap Up: Our First Week Back to School

This week was our first week back to school. The kids were ready to jump back in and start learning. I was ready for a regular routine again!

I always take a photo of them working the first day, but when I went to snap the photo, the kids had already decided to give me a hard time!

Attempt Number 1

As you can see they love to give me a hard time! LOL

Attempt Number 2

DRATS! Well, they say "third time's a charm". . . .

SUCCESS!

I love those crazy kids!

I did realize this week that when using Sonlight, it is VERY HEAVY on lots of stuff to do so I had to redesign my plans yet again to make sure I did not overload them with too much stuff.

Reading time is still our favorite time. This is where they get to just sit and listen while I read. Even Ruffles enjoys reading time.

Later during the week, we went to visit my dad and while there Kayla found the most beautiful butterfly that had just died. Someone told me what kind it was, but I forgot so I am going to let her look him up next week in the field guide for nature study time.

Kayla also took it upon herself this past week to create her own art project. She bubbled her name out on paper and turned it into a house! Her first name is the inside of the house and her last name is the outdoors area. It is really neat and I am so proud that she loves to just sit and create.

Next week, we are starting our Science. Robert will begin Biology and Kayla will be doing Life Science. They are looking forward to all the stuff they get to look at under the microscope!

This post is linked to Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.