last week, we did a fun experiment on flashlight batteries! actually, i picked up a science fair book and this ideas was in it. we gathered several different D batteries and stuffed them in flashlights... turned them on and monitored them! we had energizer, duracell, dollar general and another-which i can't recall. duracell won! it lasted over 28 hours! if you don't want to invest in different batteries.... maybe you could ask the grandparents or supportive neighbors or friends?

one day last week, i required tommie to make crock-pot potato soup for school lessons. i figured that if the public school kids have home-ec or should i say, "intro to culinary arts"... which is in fact, a real 9th grade class that my niece is taking and getting high school credit for... well then what's wrong with having tommie start his day off preparing good homemade food for the family? and especially all homegrown! i printed this recipe off: really easy crockpot soup! and it really was excellent! and he was most proud! it was nice for me, too... since i didn't have to do anything!

here's a good deal i found... although it's located in the city south of us... i'm still going to take advantage of it on my way home from our homeschool co-op! hungry howies pizza. medium. one topping. $3.99. i plan to freeze a couple slices in a ziplock baggy and pull out for school lunches. you know, being the school cook and all... i'm always looking for variety at a good price.

we're almost wrapped up with our robert fulton unit study... it's been very interesting and we've pulled in quite a few rabbit trails. i think i'll share a few non-traditional techniques we've implemented to make learning fun:

i had tommie plan and organize narration using a video camera. well, it was looking like he was having so much fun, i thought i'd join in. he was robert fulton and i was robert livingston, signer of the declaration of independence.

for one chapter of reading comp, he had to compile a newspaper headline and details.

a mind-map outline, which i learned at the writing workshop.

i pulled out our physics workshop set and for a half an hour each day (he wishes longer) he works with building and designing different machines. this is the same package that my high school nephew used for physics. so, i don't feel guilty whatsoever, having tommie plunked down on the living room floor creating.

i created a river treasure hunt: for geography, since we learned about Robert Fulton.

i set aside one day and we learned about napoleon boneparte.... since this was part of the era. it's true, i didn't know a thing about him. except he was some french guy. now, i know 5 fast facts! yeah, me.

a chapter in the robert fulton book, touched on profits and losses. and other common sense math... which i think public and parochial schools don't offer.

instead of the traditional schooly-type vocabulary lessons, you know, the kind where you look up words, write them down, study them and get quizzed on them, i thought with this unit, we'd do "hand's-on vocabulary." where, he explains a word to me, or i to him and we either discuss or act it out... or both. very fun and much easier to retain.

last week at the handwriting workshop i attended... a fellow homeschool mom shared a bright idea with me for handwriting with my reluctant writer...

it was such an amusing success, i thought i'd share it with you! it's creative writing at it's best!

here's what you do:

each of us wrote out any 5 words on pieces of paper... so we had a total of ten words.... we flipped them in the middle of the table and "had to make a story up using the words!" on friday i had my husband throw in 5 words, too. then tommie and i set off to write!

an idea for the words we worked with were: napoleon bonaparte, payloader, potato chip, pepper, dog, horse tail, courthouse, dentist, siene river, barn, mother and more.

my reluctant writer... who usually moans, groans and complains about handwriting.... actually honkered down and never looked up. what a blessing.

i plan to ask relatives and friends to write down 5 words for us... just to mix things up!

i hope you try it with your kids, too! it's loads of fun.

we've been starting our lessons with science projects! this one was a huge success! fill a saucer (bowl) with 4 tablespoons of water. light a piece of paper, drop it in a glass jar and flip it upside down in the bowl of water..... the water is sucked into the jar and not even one droplet of water will remain in the saucer/bowl! it even makes a slurping noise! the fire is desperate for oxygen!

i went to a homeschool writing workshop on monday night. a homeschool graduate and english major gave the mini seminar. it was awe inspiring and thought-provoking. all in a good way. it may not have impressed those who homeschool in a formal way... or those who simulate school at home or those who are workbook driven, drill and kill, or for those who teach for the test... but for me and our child-led unschooling it validated my definition of education. hold your tomatoes.... but, the words "school is an artificial learning environment," echoes and echoes again... in my head. that said, i had tommie do his math lesson (a scavenger hunt all over the property) outside today! all the while i picked beans and broccoli and he breathed the fresh air.

best deal math

aside from our horizon's 6th grade math everyday, i've set up a real life math station... we call it applied math. yesterday and the day before... it was "best deal".... i made three different scenario's, problems and put a matchbox car on top of each paper. here's an example that was on one paper (obviously the others had different figures.)

$18,488.32 cost of the new car you want to buy

$ 3,288.99 trade-in

$ 920.00 taxes, title and tabs

Figure each problem and come up with the best deal. My son LOVED this! That's why we did it two days in a row! I loved it because it is a life skill... we're always trying to figure out the best deals, aren't we?

this little possum has been wrecking havoc in our vegetable garden. tommie set his trap with tuna fish, eggs, and bread... and was elated to have trapped him! did you know possums have 50 teeth? and yes, guns are allowed in our school. you might agree or disagree.. but we're counting on our corn crop and tomatoes!

i recently found out at boy scout camp this year, that 3 parochial local school kids (2 Catholic and one Lutheran), sort of verbally attacked tommie. saying because he didn't attend a religious school that he was an atheist. needless to say, tommie was livid raging mad and defended his Christianity. not in the way i would of done it. and not in a Godly way. but, when you're 11.... i'm just saying....

another thing i just learned at scouts last night... a local parochial school, which charges $2,000. a year, also announced the 6th graders need a "technology book." it's $250. and they need it for class. the parents have to purchase it.

also announced on the first day of school... the parochial school is going "camping" next week. for three days. it's so the kids "can learn outside." isn't this what homeschoolers do on a regular basis? yet, duck at the slings and arrows shot their way? best part? the school is charging $115.00 per child (yes, one person i know has two children in the school) for "the let's learn outside" program.

we live in a community where things are dog-gone tough economically. jobs pending, jobs lost, uncertain futures? i can't even imagine "being told" that i have no option for these expenses.

i questioned several times.... what is a technology book? the parents were sort of speechless. they're not sure either?

as you can see by this picture... fashion, matching and trendy clothes are not on my boys agenda. he could care less about matching. it just never occurs to him. obviously.

for fun this morning, we did "ladder math." he's working with numbers in the trillions (like, when in the real world have you ever worked with any number containing a trillion?) but, okay... i'm teaching it. i set up this ladder, made a number containing a trillion, and then made directions on little cards, stating what to do; subtract 40,000,000. on the next step was a card that said add $32,000. etc. each ladder step featured a different direction. we ran through it twice. it was something fun to do for a warm-up and got us both out in the fresh morning air.

we did our regular homeschooling routine and then headed off to a two-hour game of homeschool kickball, with members from our co-op. the kids had a blast. perfect day for it.

my pal, teresa way down in texas, sent me this wonderful link for 5 homeschool freebie links! just click here! i especially think this link looks interesting!

day three of homeschooling

tommie did a little science and math combo today, with a periodic element chart and addition... with a scavenger hunt i found. it is pretty interesting to read and teach about things like cobalt and silicone. with this chart, anyway. it's simple and very interesting. the dog thought so, too. whenever we do lessons on the floor, she lays right on top of whatever project we're doing.

for recess today, tommie played with his air soft gun. i'm thinking this is more like homeschool p.e., since it shooting is a sport, right? and we watched our neighbor shoot canada geese. they fell from the air. well, two anyway. the dnr came and made a scene. would this be considered social studies? i'm documenting it as yes.

as i made homemade soup... i had tommie cut open garlic. he had never seen an actually cut-open garlic clove. he was pretty amused. he helped peel. that was his home-ec class. or should i say: introduction to culinary arts? yeah, that's it. ICA. sound's good doesn't it?

while he cut up a cantaloupe, i read from our read aloud: The Victory Garden. good book. More ICA credit.

He was bullied a little from me and of course he argued back. Who says homeschooled kids don't get bullied by someone bigger then them?

He read more on James Watt. learned the Latin definition of "opt." and for art class, he drew a Bezlebuzz Engine. complete with pistons and steam and the mechanical working parts.

spelling was okay. and so was handwriting. just okay. vocabulary words: journeymen, pulverize, saltpeter, optician, guild.

i popped in a movie about england and am in the process of teaching good note taking and outline skills. handwriting and spelling suddenly improved. as did someone's attitude.

lesson three of horizon's math. going swell.

our first day back to homeschool was yesterday. today we took the day off.

ahhh, the beauty of home education. tommie had a full morning and afternoon with three of his friends over for the day. they made homemade war movies... which were hilarious. shall we call this film-making class? yeah, yeah, i think i will. that and p.e. and recess. and good socialization...including 4 boys unsupervised at the kitchen table eating pizza and pop (and having a burping contest). and, now he's with brad working... so i chalk this up to cement pouring 101 and rabbit cage hanging in a huge rabbitry 101.