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Showing posts from September, 2011
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Those aren't my books! I got someone else's box of books in the mail. My name was on the outside of the box, but someone else's invoice and order was on the inside of the box. What a bummer. I called Sonlight this afternoon and they are going to resend my order to my house via Fed Ex and it should be here by next week. They are also scheduling a Fed Ex pick up so I don't even have to drive to the post office. All I have to do is seal this box and leave it on my porch a certain day next week. Talk about great customer service!
Norah recites a Mother Goose Rhyme called "The Months." This is one of the poems she learned in First Language Lessons .
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"All the babies!"
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Four Practical Ways To Help Your Child Became A Reader 1. Phonics- If a kid doesn't know how to read or if she is always struggling with it, I don't see why she would ever be drawn to books. Reading will be more of a painful chore than a joy to that kid. When my oldest daughter was learning to read, she didn't enjoy it. For a long time, I had to bribe her by giving her the choice of bedtime or phonics. She chose phonics every time in order to stay awake longer. But after enough practice in a traditional phonics program, she started reading better and better and after that, she began to really enjoy books. So, this may be obvious, but I think a kid needs to be able to read before they can develop an independent enjoyment of books. 2. Quiet- We don't have cable television and I try and limit my kids' time on the computer and on video games. Therefore, our house stays pretty quiet and it's easy for my kids or I to sit down with a book and stay there without
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We've been "in school" for only a few weeks and Norah has already read a third of the books on Sonlight's third grade reading list . I give Norah one of these books for "reading" almost everyday that we do school. She enjoys this so much, she begs to do reading almost as soon as we start lessons for the day. Each of these books is supposed to be read over a number of days, according to Sonlight's schedule, but once Norah starts a book, she usually wants to finish it in one sitting and I don't have the heart to tell her "no." Something about making my kid stop reading feels very unnatural, even wrong to me. So, at this point, I am going ahead and ordering the books I don't already have off Sonlight's forth/ fifth grade reading list so they will be here when Norah is done with the third grade list. Those books may actually be big enough to cause Norah to need to put them down and take a break before finishing them. She may actual
On this side of it all It's easy to forget That the prophets and priests Could only long for What we've been given. Your Spirit in us Is even better than Eden. -Veronica Boulden
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We got Norah's hair cut today. I said "Yes" to bangs. She's wearing a necklace our Grand-neighbors got her for her birthday.
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We mummified an apple in science class. The apple on the left was the control. The apple on the right was mummified by covering it with a combination of baking soda and salt. In science, we were reading about the ways people have added to everyone's knowledge of the human body over the ages. The Egyptians did minor surgeries to take out the organs out of their dead and in doing so, added to what people knew about the human body, etc. So, this project was an interesting way to demonstrate how the Ancient Egyptians preserved the bodies of their dead. It might have been for science class, but it certainly goes along with what we've studied in ancient history this year, too!
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Avril's been sick all day, sick but very snuggly. I confess that I've enjoyed holding her for so many hours. She usually prefers to be wherever her big sister is, so it's been nice that she wants her momma.
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I've been making an effort to keep more puzzles, Lego projects, paints and paper, etc. on hand to keep Norah occupied. Even with all she does for school, she still has a lot of free time. And, in the past several weeks in particular, I was noticing more and more occasions of her wandering into the living room or kitchen and plopping down on the couch or at the table and just staring into space. This never really happened before so it took me a while to realize what was wrong with my child. She was bored! Before I was a pregnant zombie, you could be sure that several afternoons each week, we'd be off on some adventure and Norah wouldn't have to come up with so many ways to stay entertained. But, now, I don't really leave the house unless I have to. (I find that dry heaving into a shopping bag or napkin or whatever else you have on hand while you are driving down the road is a little unsettling and even more unpleasant than throwing up at home in the toilet.) So,
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Norah has finished her handwriting book Zaner Bloser Handwriting Manuscript 1. Here are photos of her last pages of work in the 1st grade book. Now she gets to begin the next book . She'll review manuscript and then begin learning cursive. Here is a photo of her work from the beginning of Kindergarten: And her work at the end of Kindergarten:
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"Me! With the eyes!" Avril likes to sit on the cushion behind my head anytime I take a break on the laptop. She comments on what she sees.
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Mercy Lord! Or there'll be nothing left of me! "Nothing but faith." That's all I started with! "And all I require of thee."
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God gave me the perfect song for what I am struggling with. And it seems that as long as I have a song to sing, my head stays above the water, so to speak.
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"These knives look great! They are in perfect condition! Really! You should see what most people bring in to us... Your wife gets the 'Best Customer Ever Award.'" That's what the guy at Ergo Chef told Dwayne when Dwayne took in my knives to have them sharpened a few weeks ago. It was proud moment for me. But I think Dwayne was even prouder of me than I was of myself. He spent a lot of money to give me those knives and it blessed him because I had shown gratitude by taking care of them. A few days later, he brought home my knives and six new steak knives I didn't have already as a reward. So, in turn, I've been rewarding Dwayne with more steak for dinner. But there's a good reason I do a good job of caring for my knives. I follow the care instructions to the letter. And I follow the care instructions to the letter because I keep them in front of me constantly . And I keep them in front of me constantly because they go in my notebook. I
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Avril will come up to me while I am sitting on the couch and lay her head back on my lap like this. I will run my fingers through her hair and brush her face and cheeks while she closes her eyes and relaxes. If I stop before she is ready to go away, she makes it clear that that's totally unacceptable and that I must begin again immediately.
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The girls received even more Webkins in the mail this morning. Norah says, "Thank! You! Uncle! Donnie!" with real emphasis on each word. The girls have started playing with the hamster, the bush baby, the lambs and the bunnies (not pictured above). When I say that they both play, I mean that Avril gets to be the one to hold the "babies" and carry them around the house while Norah takes care of them online and plays the games. Letting Avril do the holding isn't easy for Norah because naturally, Norah would rather be able to hold the Webkins and play with them online, too, but letting Avril hold them is the fairest solution we've come up with and the only way to do what's right by her sister in the given situation. Avril always wants to be where Norah is, doing what Norah's doing, so letting her hold the Webkins is the most age-appropriate way to let Avril join the fun. But, when Norah isn't playing online, Avril has to share the babies wi
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My children, if your hearts are wise, my own heart will rejoice. Everything in me will celebrate when you speak what is right. -Proverbs 23:15-16
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I just came through a period of two weeks when I couldn't worship. I don't think I've ever gone that long without spending time in God's presence, at least not since I became a believer. I think it must be what people are talking about when they speak of a spiritual desert. It's more than I can explain here, but I was wrestling with God over something that happened several months ago. Until two weeks ago, I hadn't really struggled to believe that God was leading me and that He would work everything out. But, after so many months of praying and waiting, praying and waiting, praying and waiting, I had to confront my questions, doubts and hard feelings over the situation. I couldn't worship, but I kept praying and I spent hours and hours, night after night, complaining to my husband who very faithfully, patiently listened and reminded me over and over again that "...the testing of your faith develops perseverance. And perseverance must finish its work
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I have been drinking a lot of hot tea. I like the flavors pregnancy blend, ginger with teaspoon of ginger syrup and mint with a teaspoon of honey. As soon as I start to feel a little green, I stop and make a cup. This seems to be helping cure my nausea. I've also noticed that my appetite is coming back and my digestive system is getting back to normal. I don't seem to be as sensitive to smells either because I've been able to do the dishes, take out the trash and clean the bathroom, etc. And, not that I feel like eating late at this point in life, but I think that if I keep drinking tea even after I have this baby, it might help me satisfy the urge to snack after dinner because tea fills my belly with warmth and quells hunger pains. This is a habit I might just be keeping!
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"If I had never been given an X-box, I would have never forgotten to turn it off!" Norah said this through sobbing tears while being disciplined for forgetting to turn off her X-box... again. (If she doesn't turn the X-box off it will overheat and break so turning it off is a firm rule.) She was totally devastated, fully convinced the problem was the fact that she had been given an X-box in the first place. If she didn't have the X-box... I thought about what she was saying for a moment, then I told her, "Well, if we think like that, your dad and I should take all the good things we've ever given you away since you may not do what's right with them." "No..." "No. You just need to learn to do what's right with the good things you are given... and you are still learning." "You're right. I'm sorry, Mom." Norah said with a sniffle and a big hug and a few more tears. A moment later, we were in the kitchen and t
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We celebrated Norah's seventh birthday this week. We let Norah choose where we went to dinner. She chose our favorite authentic Mexican restaurant. We had the staff surprise her with some ice cream and a very loud birthday song. Dwayne and I both forgot our phones or else we would have gotten a photo of her in a sombrero. I guess that's one image I will have to store away in my memory. We came home after dinner and lit the candles on her cupcakes, sang to her and then we ate dessert together. She decorated these cupcakes herself earlier in the afternoon. We gave Norah her presents and then spent time together in the living room till bedtime. Norah got several Star Wars collector's books and picture dictionaries (which she has already read.) She got some new Webkins from my brother. We also got her a membership to Animal Jam which she's been begging for for over a year. She's been enjoying her new computer pets all day today.
A video of the girls being silly together.
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This is what it's all about.
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"Momma-babies." -Avril's way of saying "female Lego people" because every grown female must be a momma and everyone's someone's baby.
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Norah and Avril on speaker phone with grandparents earlier today.
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I've been stuck on the couch with nausea, so with all this down time, I've been watching several old episodes of Star Trek DS9, one of Dwayne's favorite television shows. During one episode, I really liked an exchange between the fictional character Captain Cisco and his teenage son Jake. Jake wants to go hang out with a friend the night before a big test, but his dad tells him he ought to be studying. "Don't worry, Dad. I'll ace the test." To this, Captain Cisco tells his son, "This is not about tests, Jake. This is about learning. You can't learn to appreciate Klingon opera by cramming for the test the night before.” He may not be a real person and there may not be any such a thing as Klingon opera (though there might be for all I know, since people can actually learn to speak the Klingon language.). But I still really like what Cisco says to his son here because it expresses the same thing we believe about education. We value authentic learnin
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I have been reading several random sections of The Well Trained Mind that I haven't been able to give due attention to yet. There's so much content in this book, it's like it just keeps growing more content when I am not looking. I've poured over this book for days and days already, but there is still so much to see! I made a list of the resources that stood out to me as I've read the last few days, the particular publishers or books or programs that I don't know about yet, that sounded like they may yet be useful at this point in our home school efforts, even after all that I've already done to prepare. I intend to look up the information that's on this new list I've made during my free time in the next few days. I've already found an exciting resource I'd like to share with you called A.D.A.M. Inside Out . It's an visually stunning, interactive, online program that teaches about the human body structures and systems. Here's a phot
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I found this when I was cleaning out my hope chest. I wrote this a few days before I graduated high school.
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They will lay in Norah's bed like this and watch shows on Norah's computer, sometimes for hours on lazy days like Saturdays. It's pretty sweet. Dwayne and I will often stand in the hall and peek in and watch them snuggle like this. Seeing them love each other is one of the greatest joys for Dwayne and I. I also enjoy it when Norah does things like play a video game, but asks Avril what she should do next. That's even better because Avril can't play so Norah is letting Avril play through her. The way I see it: if they can love one another, if they can prefer each other and put each other first, etc. then teaching them to go ye therefore and deny themselves and love their enemies and all that will be a piece of cake. It seems to me that the biggest lessons can begin and end with how our kids learn from the little issues that arise from having to do the right thing by their brothers and sisters at home. "Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the f
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When Norah is done with her school work, I give her a book from our reading list to read silently. She reads the whole book cover to cover and then answers my questions about it or narrates it for me. If I would let her, she'd read two or three books from our reading list everyday! But, I keep these "reading" books high on the shelf because I like being able to give her a new, special book. It feels like a reward to her after she finishes all her school work. Even today she asked, "What book am I reading today?" and "Can I do my reading book before I do math?" This reading book often puts her in the mood to read more, but I make her choose library books or books from our shelves at home to satisfy her need to read her for the rest of the day. But, she reads so much, she has read the same books several times now. She will often check out a library book two or three times before it gets "old." But, at this point, many library books, especia
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What a difference a day can make! We really enjoyed this lesson in Norah's science book today. It required several pages of reading, too. But that was no problem at all, surprisingly. I guess our enjoyment depends much less on the amount of reading we do and more upon our interest in the subject matter. I had forgotten how fascinating cells are. And it was fun to be there for Norah's first exposure to this topic. She drew this cell herself as I read about each part of the cell and as she looked at the illustrations in her science text.
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We had done only two days worth of Norah's new science program, Apologia's Human Anatomy and Physiology, and I was already feeling very negative about it. I called my sister-in-law very stressed out and after talking to her, I think, I think she has made me feel better about the issues I was having. The first negative for me was the amount of reading. So much reading! Even I, the teacher/adult, began to hear the words, "Blah, blah, blah..." instead of what I am actually saying it was so much reading! My sister in law explained that this anatomy book is probably the most advanced book Apologia offers for the elementary years and with that in mind, she isn't even going to use it till her kids are about to go into middle school, etc. She suggested I cut down the amount of material each day and cover in four lessons what the book suggests I cover in two. I agreed that that would work, but realized later that that will seriously affect my tidy home school schedule. To
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I'm not only re-working my bookshelves, I am also re-organizing my corner storage cabinet, too! I'm doing all this work to organize because I believe if I just figure out how to best organize my bookshelves and school supplies now ... while my oldest is only beginning the second grade, I will really benefit from all this extra effort and expense for years and years to come. I've avoided putting serious mental effort toward organization until now. But, at this point, we are accumulating books and supplies in mass so it's time to get serious about keeping everything neat and in it's place so I can be a good steward of what I have and so it will last for much longer. (I am sure being pregnant is motivating me to do this as well.) Notice the pile of trash I pulled out of this cabinet there on the floor! It's just so easy to stuff stuff into this cabinet before company comes over or when I just want the table clean now ! But I have to stop doing that.
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Avril watching Star Trek with Daddy.
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You know you're a home schooler if... "bookshelves" and "drywall anchors" are items on your school supply list. We added two bookshelves to the wall of our dining room today. We have a table in our eat-in kitchen that we use for our family meals. We only need the dining room to be a dining room when we have guests over for meals... and that's only thirty or so nights a year. I am way too practical to maintain a dining room as just a dining room, not when I can use it every single day of the year to home school. I arranged the table in the room length wise now so that even with the shelves, there's still enough space for us and for any dinner guests to move around the table with ease. Obviously, I've still got a lot of work to do on these shelves, on this entire room, in fact. But it's joyful work spreading myself from two bookshelves to four. Here's a photo of the two bookshelves that I already had, taken a few months ago
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We had our first ultrasound today. My friend Jessica watched the girls so Dwayne could be there. Everything looks prefect. The baby is measuring at nine weeks, confirming that the due date set, April 2, is within range. We saw the baby wiggling around and his/ her heart beating. This pic they gave me is not the greatest, but the images we saw on the screens today were noticeably clearer than those we could got with Norah or Avril. It's pretty amazing that the technology is still ever-improving.
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If you are interested, here's a play by play of our first day of school. Some people are interested in how I manage it all. Well, here it is. But if you are squeamish about lengthy blog posts, I suggest you just come back another day and read. This may take a while. _ Dwayne leaves for work. Norah gets Avril out of bed and they come into my room and snuggle. After about five minutes, I get up, go to the bathroom, change the baby's diaper and get dressed. The girls are playing in Norah's room. I shuffle into the kitchen, make my ice water, shuffle to the couch, take my thyroid pill, read my Bible and check my emails on my laptop. Norah comes in about ten minutes later and demands food. I tell her she can make it for herself. She says, "Really?!" She toasts two bagels, one for herself and one for Avril. She gets out the cream cheese, smears it on, puts in back in the fridge. Lesson #1 for the day. They eat while I finish checking emai