today we started back to homeschool. the beauty of this thing called home education as you know... is being able to tweak and twist things up.. to suit your needs.

originally, i had planned a unit study around the 21 balloons novel. i thought it would be a blast! mentioning it to my son, he sort of rolled his eyes and very seriously said, "mom, you know when i grow up i want to be a diesel mechanic and work on heavy equipment.... why can't i learn about things like that?"

what a relief to know what his interest is and have the freedom to redirect our sails ... i pulled out a christian liberty reader about inventors. as of today... our homeschool is centered around this book. (i'll post a picture later). we're both learning about James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine. there is so much information in just the first few pages, that i'm able to break subjects down: scotland, geography, applied math, copywork, spelling and lots of good science. by the way James Watt was homeschooled until he was 14. for science today, tommie made a turbine out of a milk carton.

above: removing honey and honeycomb! and chewing on it! of course! we were able to get one quart and one pint.

first day back? as nice as could be. exhale.

really, this is not a fake, plastic spider.

it's the real thing. a fishing spider. the legs measure 1 inch and body measures 3/4 inch. the egg sack is nestled underneath. we've counted 40 eggs released so far. this snap shows her on my kitchen table. we're really keeping her in a big jar. with her eggs. go ahead ask... "where did you find her?" it was a gift from my in-laws.... this baby was in my mother-in-law's furnace room! they know we like odd nature... and really, we do! except snakes.

unschooling day: tommie and i canned more pizza sauce. a trip to the military store, watching a pbs ww2 show about Mussolini and canned apple sauce. he really is a big help in the kitchen.... wouldn't this be classified as home-ec? think so! we are both looking forward to starting lessons next week. STRUCTURE. WE NEED STRUCTURE!

crafts for boys who like power tools!

just another good reason why we choose homeschooling. our official start was suppose to be today. instead, i gave tommie the nod to go out and experience life with his dad. this week, there's some pretty exciting stuff going on. things we'd never be able to teach in a textbook. things like: breaking up cement with backhoes, dealing with miss dig when you hit a gas line, cutting phone lines, mule farms, and other things i'm sure i don't want to know about: junk food, swearing, man talk and man-stuff.

while at the 4H fair, i took a couple of clicks with my camera of these trellis' made from twigs. before the snow blows and the pulp is covered.... i'm hauling a handful into the garage. on a gloomy day in michigan...when there's nothing to do... i'll send tommie out to the barn to put a few of these together. i'll keep several myself and give them for gifts. and tommie will be proud as a peacock.

so, when does school start for you?

rumor has it..............

rumor has it..... mcdonald's is offering an "after-school snack coupon booklet," for just a dollar. the coupons inside include:

3 coupons for FREE baked pies

3 coupons for FREE apple juice or milk jug

3 coupons for FREE small cones

3 coupons for FREE apple dippers or small fries

and, rumor has it.... the coupons don't expire until 12/2011! i'm not sure which mcdonald's are participating... but, i betcha most are. one good thing is.... there's a mcdonalds in every direction... so one is bound to be participating!! wouldn't ya think?

*snap taken at our local 4H fair.... this cow was being milked at the time of the flash.

happy was i.... when i spotted two paint-your-own matisse and picasso tee-shirts for tommie! for just $2.50 at a dollar type store. obviously, some things are priced slightly higher. what a cheap way to force us into a small artist study on picasso and matisse! i'm sure he'll end up wearing them as a nightshirt... or maybe i will take ownership of them? i also picked up a box of oil pastels for a dollar! whew-whew!!

In one week, we'll be starting our homeschool lessons. I don't have a mountain of textbooks. Nor do I have a stack of black-lined fill-in-the-blank busywork books. No, I'm not knocking those who have kids that thrive on it. Those are simply not effective for my son's learning style. One more good reason, I choose to home-educate. Freedom to choose.

I have two books this year for our curriculum. Okay three, if you count Story Starters by Karen Andreola... which I'll use as a fill-in.

We'll be using Horizon's 6th grade math. Horizon Math has served us very well for the past five years and has never let us down. Considering a spiral approach to math? This one rocks!

The second book in our homeschool is, the Newberry winner, The 21-Balloons. After skimming the book, it no-doubt will take us on weeks of rabbit trails! I'll use it for geography, language arts, history, science (much!), spelling and lots of vocabulary and art. And, plenty of computer researching. As we get going with this... I'll be posting our activities... so stay tuned.

For the first time ever... my babe is ready to start back to school. Can you say.... "ready for structure?"

today found me signing up for classes at our homeschool co-op! treating myself to lunch out and a full day of errands! the classes i signed tommie up for are:

world war 2
gym
lunch
night at the museum
cpr

i'm teaching:

the world of peter rabbit
and
night at the museum
i am hoping to take a crochet class, as well.

this is a picture of a sunflower in my yard. i just love them.

one of my favorite things to do during 4H fair days... is to meander through the craft and vegetable barns. i love getting new ideas! i spotted this 5-gallon storage stool! and i adore it! it looks to me like you would purchase a 5-gallon bucket with lid, decorate the base anyway you want and cover with a coordinating fabric... perhaps stuff with a soft batting, cover with a fun printed material and hot glue the entire stuffed fabric down. i didn't want to pick it up and examine it... since it was on public display. i am assuming the lid lifts of for easy storage.

what a fun idea for traveling, the beach, art supplies, or even for adults... think gardening bucket or sewing bucket!

wait! before you toss those fun and colorful boxes into the trash... how about cutting them up and using them for postcards? we have two close relatives attending universities this fall... and i think they'll find it amusing to get a few of these cards in the mail, from time to time. as long as they measure with standard envelopes and weight... no extra postage is necessary!

i love this site! click this!

at the fair yesterday... in between competitions, the 4H children, were able to witness cows giving birth. there were five cows ready to birth at any moment... and when one was ready... all the kids were called in and rounded up to watch. myself included. such a miracle! tommie was in awe. totally engrossed. as were all the children. what a wonderful opportunity to learn about life. the cow above needed help... it was her first birth. hence, the help. two men and one young teenaged girl helped pull. it took maybe a half an hour... and at the end much information was learned about the placenta... which was HUGE! i was happy to be the one... to explain and answer questions about giving birth and how normal it all was. and, how God has such a divine plan in everything... including the umbilical cord of a cow! not to mention, the good farmers helping a helpless animal! after the calf was born, one of the dairy farmers gently slapped the calf and picked it right up and laid it directly in front of it's mom. immediately, the cow licked, prodded and loved on it's little calf. much like i did the second tommie was born. i kissed him immediately... didn't even wait for him to be cleaned up. then i sat up and ate a piece of pizza... i too, felt well enough after giving birth, to walk back down to my room and go home. does this mean i am part cow?

what a great day we experienced!

we've been busy preparing for the 4H livestock competitions...happening at a local fair. tommie is entered in best of breed and showmanship which has 37 steps!, oral questions about anatomy, rabbit diseases and treatments, breeding, and other questions like... normal rabbit temp., percentages and fur qualities. he's also super excited (i'm serious) about his barn duties... where he cleans and waters all the rabbits for 2-hour increments.... while i sit and read a book. this past week, he was required to help paint, wash and set up rabbit cages and stands... below. I went to Goodwill and shopped... while he danced with the paint brush! well.... wouldn't you? (smile, wink, nod!)