Zealous Attempt to Catch Up and a Zip Line

Sonlight!  We are all over the place, working off of weeks 5 and 6 schedules this week - Antarctica and Japan for the most part.

Alexis had been sick again this past week with a bad cold, and we also had a field trip that took the entire day Friday.  My goal for next week is to try and get her back to the normal SL schedule – whichever week that turns out to be… 

Math is getting a little harder, so she is slowing down a bit with it.  I am still happy we are only using SL Language Arts.  I have not yet felt the need to use our additional LA resources (Rod and Staff) that I had purchased at a used curriculum sale, "just in case."  Science is going well too.  I’m glad we are using Dinah Zikes Great Science Adventures to go with Sonlight’s Core 5 science books.  It is a good fit for us.

Last week I mentioned that I had started watching "Ring of Fire: An Indonesian Odyssey" from Netflix.  Alexis thankfully was not interested in watching it, so I viewed it on my own.  It took forever for me to carve the time out of my life to finish seeing this, as it is 290 minutes in length, (that is just Part 1,) but I was able to take some time yesterday evening to view the rest of the documentary.

Alexis not wanting to see this dvd truly ended up being a God thing.  There were some – let’s just say, bare scenes.  That was not something I wanted her to view, but believe it or not, the nudity is not what disturbed me the most.  What was hard/painful for me to process was to see how unreached many of these islanders were, and I am certain, still are.  The brothers who produced this film spent a decade island hopping through the Indonesia's chain of volcanic islands, and embracing the religious cultures they filmed along the way.  I was stunned to witness the evil forces present in these areas.  I don’t think I’ve ever felt such raw emotion about a cultural presentation before.  It has given me a new found respect and perspective for missionaries who spend their lives working to communicate the Truth of Jesus to people who seem so lost.  I am in awe of what they are willing to do for His kingdom, as it is clear to see that they may face unadulterated evil in the most grievous sense.  There is one particular religion represented in the film that presents itself to today’s Americans as a religion that pursues peace and focus.  After watching this film, (again, from the perspective of men who embracing the culture,) I can truly say that this particular doctrine (calling it a religion now bothers me) is anything but peaceful to the soul, and although they may become focused, that focus is in no way harmless.  I was shocked to witnessed the demonic forces behind this belief.  I am glad I watched it, and probably will see the 2nd dvd – later.  I need time to digest this hard content more before I do.  I will not allow Alexis to view it.  At least not for another 5 years or so…

In addition to school, we had our 3rd week of co-op.  Alexis is having fun with that, and will miss it when we take a break.  It is nice to visit with many of the moms there.  Some I only get to see while co-op’s are in session.

Keeper’s is going well too.  Another mom has taken over setting up the badge schedule for moms and girls.  I am slowly backing out of my leadership responsibility there, as my Home Educators group leadership responsibility has increased somewhat.  The girls are working on their scrap-booking badge.  Alexis has done this before, but it was a little different.  The first time around, the girls focused on their photo and decoration presentation.  This time the emphasis is on journaling.   

We had a great field trip experience last week.  Alexis said it was her favorite field trip ever!  It was fun, and unexpectedly, I participated too!  (One of the families who had signed up did not go, so there was an extra mom ticket.)

Originally I planned to sign up to go too, but the mom in charge of the field trip sent this You Tube Video of what the field trip experience would be like before I registered, so I chickened out and did not add my name to the list.  After we got there, I regained my confidence in tree climbing and went for it.  We had a blast!!!  The video is only Course #1.  Our trip included the 2nd course, which was higher in the trees, and a more challenging course with an extra zip line. 

Happy friends looking forward to a fun day!

Alexis during "Instruction" time.

And she's up!!!

Me - before starting out...

1st part of the course...

Alexis walking the tight rope.  A UPS truck drove under her feet just as she was at the 1/2 way point.  That was a quite startling!

Zip Line Fun!

Alexis moving her cables from one section to another

Course #2

Course #2 for me too!

Continuing on...  Almost finished!

Last Zip Line!  Yeah!!!  Off to Cracker Barrell with Alexis and a friend!

Happenings at our House

We are on week 5 of Sonlight Core 5.  We should have been on 7, but got behind, (see previous posts and you can easily figure out why.)

The Eastern Hemisphere Explorer is going well, and so far, Alexis likes it.  The spectrum of facts and interesting trivia is wide - holding her interest well.  I think one of the keys to keeping her content with it is that I try not to let things get to the point of frustration for her as she attempts to answer the questions.  The World Book that comes with the Core is great, but it doesn't give all the answers - and at times, the answers are hard to find anyway.  If Alexis can't find an answer, she skips it, then goes back once more to look for it, then we (yes, we) google it or go to the answer key.  I think it is important that I help her, as this is a year long process, and if I start out expecting her just to know how to find all her answers, it would be delusional of me, and almost impossible for her.)  I feel that if we keep things rolling, she'll "get" the process and pick up on how to seek the information independently.

Last week for a writing assignment, Alexis used the World Book to find information on the kangaroo mouse.  (Unrelated to EHE.)  It took me off guard when Alexis had a light bulb moment realizing that World Book had information on it that did not involve the EHE.  I guess I should have first taken her to the library to show her a set of encyclopedias so she could grasp the massive variety of subjects one holds.  Sometimes I get so wrapped up in the details, that I forget that of course a child would not automatically know that a little DVD could be so versatile. 

The reading and history assignments are enjoyable and managable at the moment.  So far, I'm thrilled to say, Alexis is still looking forward to our reading and discussions on Core 5.  Very glad that she does.  

Writing is one of our main goals to focus on for improvement this year.  SL's Core 5 LA program is certainly centered on writing assignments.  As I laid out her school schedule on paper in late July, I became concerned with the quantity of writing assignments this LA program has.  I forced myself to calm down as i looked further and saw that these are quick assignments - not long drag outs.  I also reminded myself that I am in control of her schedule, and can adapt if need be.  Much to my happy surprise, however, she has exceeded my expectations, and is doing an absolutely wonderful job!  I am loving Core 5!

We've seen lots of Netflix movies over the last several weeks:

At the moment I have Ring of Fire "checked out.  It was released in 2003, and seems a bit dated, but still interesting.  For some reason Alexis hasn't taken to it.  Some of the island cultures have oddities that I am not quite ready to explain to her - so I have not pushed her to watch it with me.

For fun we watched Kangaroo Jack - I'm sure to many it would be considered twaddle.  There is one scene that i wish we had fast forwarded through.  I saw it coming, but just couldn't fathom that what I was afraid would happen would.  Sigh.  Yes, it was twaddle, over the top corny, but in a strange way, it was sort of a fun movie to see.  Just wish they had cut that scene - maybe a few others as well.

The Silver Stallion was another movie we viewed.  It was okay, though it was not one of our favorites.  There was a lot of "mother earth" talk (for lack of better words.)  I am curious to know if the early beliefs of the Aboriginees spilled over into what would be considered the western culture of Australia?  Pr, has this belief always been a part of all of this region?  The film was released in 1993 - before much of our western culture regarded the earth as the source of all animate and inanimate objects.

We also watched Discovery Atlas Australia Revealed - Russel Crowe narrates it.  This was a good one, although, like the move mentioned above, the cultural views saddens me.

Australia the Beautiful - was good.  It has breathtaking scenery, and unique information about this great country's unique wildlife.

Other happenings - 

Alexis went on a fun field trip.  The students took an art class and learned about printing using a special linoleum tile, paper, and ink.

The 2 photos taken are not that great -  I forgot my camera and had to take them with my phone. 

Ink Stamps made of linoleum

Silly smile - so pretty!

Aside from all of Alexis' happenings, David, (son,) is getting settled with school.  We miss him sooo much, but are proud of all of his accomplishments.  He is working at the college this year in a work study program.  In addition to this, David just got a "real" job at a lovely church - working with the youth!  Sometime before he finished his sophomore year, David decided that he would like to take some classes to explore the possibility of pursuing a minor in Student Ministry.  (His majors are Political Science, and Communications.)  Since he graduated from VBS in 5th grade - David has been involved in student ministries.  Much of it was helping me with my Sunday School classes, or the church with VBS, or various other venues including some great programs he worked with during school least year - but it all has been an amazing and blessed opportunity to watch him grow spiritually and deepen his commitment to the Lord.  I am excitedly anticipating what else He has in store for my boy!

Amanda is doing great!  She is working hard, and still has 2 jobs.  One of them as lots of baked goods that are served fresh daily, so on the nights that she closes, if no charitable organizations come to pick it up, she is able to bring goodies home, as they would otherwise go in the trash can.  Alexis is enjoying her sister's goodies, and Amanda has been so sweet to take some of it to her grandmother.  She's even been able to bring extras home for me to share with some of the homeschool moms at a meeting.  I hope everyone enjoyed!

School is going well for Amanda, and she expects to be able to stay on schedule for the rest of the year.  She soon needs to firm things up for the college she will attend next year.  Time is flying fast!

One of the other leadership moms in our homeschool group and I conducted a workshop last Monday evening.  She spoke about portfolios, and I spoke about Sue Patrick's Workbox System.  It has been an invaluable organizational tool for me and Alexis - both, as we began it sometime before last school year ended.  I almost didn't start back up with Workboxes right away, but Alexis herself actually encouraged me to fill the boxes.  As I began working with it again, it became clear to me how much the system was helping us.  So much so that I thought it could benefit other moms in our HS support group.  I happily volunteered to do this workshop, then as it got closer to presentation time, I began to feel a bit inferior.  Since I am a homeschool mom of 1 - teaching a group of homeschool moms of many, how do I make suggestions for making this system work for them?  Thankfully, a sweet friend, Leslie, took time out of her busy life to give me some great tips about how to use the Workbox System with multiple students.   She shared about some of the many fun things she adds to her children's boxes.  She also gave me great ideas of how to intertwine student's activites throughout the day.  Above all, she gave me encouragement - a huge blessing. My presentation went well, and I am thankful for the opportunity to help my groups moms.

In addition to Leslie's help, Sue Patrick, when i e-mailed her asking questions about the system, generously offered to send me handouts and an outline to cover important points about the system.  More encouragement!  God is so good!

Back to our Homeschool Routine!

I had hoped to post updates on Alexis' school experiences this year on a regular basis - however, that has not happened yet.  We have had a few things going on in our lives over the past several weeks. Instead, I am sharing my notes from the start of the school year to date in this one blog post.

I found that the Eastern Hemisphere Explorer takes a lot of Alexis' time each day.  Too much time...  So, we quickly made some adjustments to a way that Alexis can work well with it.  I can't take credit for these tips, as I read and took these suggestions off of the Sonlight Boards.  I'm making note of these adaptations in hopes that it will help someone else.

*****Because***** we need to make the most of each day, we may not use the SL IG schedule for EHE in order, but by day 5 we will have covered all lessons with the exception of the *Book Box section.  Please see why below.  

After I take a look at our week ahead and determine how much time we can spend on the EHE each day, the following is how we will utilize it each day.

For the study of specific areas - i.e. Island Study, Great Barrier Reef, Ring of Fire, etc.  Alexis will spend about 20 minutes to 1/2 hour to search for the information in the World Book.  If she has not completed all the questions, but feels that she has found everything she can find, I will look through WB to see if there are any answers remaining.  Not all information in the EHE can be found in the WB.  If there are more answers to be found, I will give her clues - like look in the 2nd paragraph, look under the caption "Government" etc.  When we have determined that WB resources are spent, I will have her Google the questions with me - and after 5-10 minutes, if we cannot find the answers, I will hand her the answer key to finish up.

This is something that has taken me many years to feel comfortable doing, but it helps to remind myself that Alexis will spend an entire year practicing her research skills with EHE, so I am trying to stay keenly aware that this is a process.  How often did we come home from school with some touch homework and a family member gave us some help?  

If our day is full - I may copy a page out of the answer guide, cut the answers out for the page she is working on, (a good example would be a Just the Facts page,) then Alexis will go through the stack of cut out questions, to find her answers.  

An accidental surprise - between watching the Netflix DVD's and "getting behind" with the EHE, we've found that Alexis can go through the questions on the Just the Facts pages and answer many of the questions.

The mapping pages are what I would consider a little difficult to do solo from the start for an average 5th-7th grader.  Because many moms concur with this on the SL Boards, I decided to give Alexis the map from the answer guide, and have her use it as she goes through the instructions in her book to fill in the map.  If I handed her a map or an atlas and said go - it could easily throw our entire day/week off.  Again, this is a process, and she is still learning by doing this.  She is following directions, finding locations, and information as requested.  Important skills to have...  When Alexis is finished with her map, we look it over and compare it to the globe to see how that country fits spatially form the perspective of looking at the whole planet.  The atlas, to see rivers, lakes, regions, and more.  All this helps to see the whole picture of her mapping assignments.  It's actually one of her favorite things she works on in the EHE.

Even though the Book Box pages are scheduled prior to a book being read all the way through, Alexis does the Book Box after she has finished reading the entire book.  this is a much easier way to complete the information requested from this section.  However, it does require remembering to go back to the section sometimes a week or so later.

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~Week Ending August 28th, 2009~

Monday started out great.  Tuesday we went on a field trip to Bruster’s Ice Cream for a back to school kick off, and also enjoyed some bonding time with David shopping at Wal-Mart to load him up with food and goodies to take to college

The evening before David as due to leave for college, Alexis began getting a cough and sore throat.  As he and his Dad were packing up his car and our van to leave for school Thursday AM, I was out the door to take Alexis to the doctor.  She had the flu.  We managed to get home just in time to see David off.  He is a junior this year, so you would think I would be used to him leaving by now, but I am not.

Alexis when first ill, was preferring to listen to me read over watching TV.  (How can you turn a sick child down?)   So I have read all read aloud readers through The Master Puppeteer, and finished Call it Courage reader.  I even read September’s book club book to her. 

I am thankful for Alexis’ desire to "hear" the Sonlight stories and other books while sick. Although it will ultimately make life easier catching up with school when she is well again, it has been a sweet time spent together too.

Monday and Tuesday, we began Alexis' spelling and Latin lessons, but they will probably have to be repeated when she is well again.  We "checked out" Nim's island from Netflix to end our "Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia Island Adventure," and watched it over the weekend.  Alexis made Pavolova to kick off our Australian Adventure.  I'm glad she got to enjoy it before she got sick.  I even ate some.  (I could use the excuse that I didn't have dessert on Amanda's birthday.)  It had sugar, but no wheat!!!  We all loved it, and hope Alexis makes it again! .

1st Field Trip of the Year

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~Week Ending August 21, 2009~

So far, so good.  The Eastern Hemisphere Explorer is going about as well as I had expected.  I'm still working with Alexis on it, but I see progress with her researching information.  I had hoped we would have completed 3 weeks of the Core, but it is more like 2+.  With Amanda getting her tonsils out, naturally, my attention needed to go in caring for her, so most of our homeschooling stopped for a few days.

We’ve finished Henry Reed, Inc. as a read aloud.  Loved it.  Both Alexis and I laughed the whole way through.  It was a great way to start the school year.  We listened to Island of the Blue Dolphins on cd – because Alexis read it last year for her girl’s book club. We are still plugging away with Torches of Joy, and will wrap up with Seabird next Monday.  I am pleased with her response to Core 5.  She seems to be enjoying everything we are doing!

We liked watching Wild Pacific – both DVD’s were worth viewing.  They were close to 3 hours each!  I don’t think I’ve watched that much TV in a week’s span in years!  We fast forwarded through some of the details at the end of the 2nd DVD.  Although interesting to some I’m sure, it was not for us.

Another great thing!  Alexis has completed 3 weeks of math, and is enthralled with Teaching Textbooks – which is a bonus.  Although she has always been good at math, she hasn’t always liked it.  This year it is one of her favorite subjects!  We will add Spelling and Latin into her schedule next week.

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***Note I did not update the week of August 14th.  We had a productive week of school and stayed caught up with Alexis' assignments.  I will post some adjustments that we are making to the EHE on my next post.

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~Week Ending August 7th, 2009~

We are off to a pretty good start, though not as impressive as a few of the other SL ladies!
 

With Amanda having her tonsils out on Thursday, our plans were to do 3 days of school this week. We didn’t get it all done, but it’s all good. We will start back on Monday and hopefully have a good full week of school.

We opened a Netflix account this past week.  They have been great with the turn around on the movies!  We first watched an I-Max movie called Hidden Hawaii – and thought it was just so so.  I guess I expected more out of an I-Max movie.  We also saw Molokai: The Story of Father Damien and thought that it was very good.  I wish I had taken a few notes while watching – there are a couple of scenes that I think would be great for discussing our Christian worldview.  One scene in particular stood out, where Father Damien spoke about something very similar to a scene in the book Bruschco.  His response was very much like Bruce Olsen’s too.  Interesting.  We have the Wild Pacific on its way as well. We’re looking forward to it, as it was recommended highly from several of the SL ladies.

We skipped the intro to 100 Gateway Cities.  This was an extremely astute suggestion from a veteran Core 5 mom from the boards.  (I read through it myself last week, and we discussed some of the noteworthy points briefly during the week.  Core 5 begins at a fast pace, and this very much helped give us some breathing room as we worked our way into a  new routine.

We started and ended the majority of our 1st day of school before 12:30 - so we could have lunch with some friends - a pleasant way to start our school year! 

Prior to starting school, I loaded World Book onto the computer, and checked out the fundamentals of navigating around it.  I also opened up the Eastern Hemisphere Explorer - in order to practice attempting to find answers to the 1st 3 questions in "Search Smartly."  No problem, I thought!!!  Found them!  I assumed that my research skills were solid - so I closed the program and did not try opening it again until Alexis and I sat down so that she could try it out.  I showed her how to open WB, and where to find the information to type in a search.  She easily found the 1st three answers, (like me,) but when she got to the 4th question - and could not find the answer, I took control to help her out, and realized that I couldn't find it either!      We both were blurry eyed, because we had had eye exams earlier in the day, so I went to the trusty answer guide to find the answer, but it was no help...  The answer guide does not include answers to the "Search Smartly" questions.  The thought of continuing on in a book when you can't find answers to the practice page is a bit intimidating.    


Thankfully, as we forged ahead with the EHE, there were no more problems.  Alexis said that she had a really fun 1st week, so I consider it a success!  

  
  

  

Healing and Birthday Fun

Amanda’s tonsillectomy went extremely well.  We are so thankful for the many people who prayed her through this.  She woke up fast from the anesthesia, and I happily took her home about an hour before we expected to leave.  She has been mostly healthy all of her life, so it almost felt odd to take care of Amanda.  At the same time, I was glad to be able to "baby" her just a bit as we nursed her back to health.  She seemed to stay comfortable through the days following the surgery.  That was truly an answer to my prayers.  She told us after everything was all over that this did not hurt as bad as when she was away at college with strep and tonsillitis.      I am glad this experience was better for her, but it makes me sad to know that she was so uncomfortable before.  

Amanda celebrated her 19th birthday 10 days after her surgery.  David, (son) worked at Sea World during his summer break, and was given some tickets to use at any of the Busch parks as part of his Seasonal Employee package - so being the nice child that he is, he took us to Busch Gardens for Amanda's birthday.

 

I spy a cute little baby that I "hatched" 19 years ago...

My family (2nd & 4th rows) enjoying a loop on a roller coaster.

Not the best picture, but one with the 3 sibling together...

Dad and his girls on the Skyride

This is supposed to be the fastest wooden roller coaster in the world.  Without any of us thinking about it being too rickety for Amanda - just 10 short days after her tonsillectomy, letting her ride it probably wasn't the brightest thing we've ever done...  Her throat and neck hurt afterwards, giving us a good scare.  Thankfully, all is well.

Photos from Busch Gardens

This photo - and the next 2 are of birds building their nest.

One of the couple would gather from the ground as the other positioned their nesting material just so.

Then they would switch places.  This one is now adding their material while the other goes to gather.

It was a great day for a Safari ride.  A tropical storm was heading up the Gulf Coast, making the weather bearable.  We experienced 1 downpour, but it was worth putting up with, knowing that the temperatures we had were about 15 degrees lower than normal for mid August.

A hungry elephant!

Zebra #1

Zebra #2

After the Safari, we walked around to see more animals.  A busy orangutang slowed down just long enough to let me take this picture.

Not my favorite animals, but this is a good photo of a couple of the hyenas.

Cute little things...  I wish I could remember what they are!

Beautiful lioness

We enjoyed celebrating Amanda's birthday with her at Busch Gardens.  I am thankful for the Lord allowing us to be her parents for 19 amazing years.  She is a loving daughter - with a generous heart.  Amanda has a great sense of humor, and has a desire for fun and adventure.  Her eyes sparkle when she talks about new experiences and/or accomplishments.  She is extremely smart - with just a slight competitive streak.  She is a people person, and a hard worker.  She loves being around children, and works comfortably with them.  I could go on for hours telling of Amanda's wonderful qualities, but I will wrap it up by saying that the most precious thing about Amanda, far above all, is her love for the Lord.