The Homeschool Mother's Journal

In my life this week ... We are having a busy week at my parents'! They have sold their home and purchased a smaller one, so my mom and I have been so busy doing landscaping and making some purchases and moving things. My grandma was also moved into a nursing home this past Friday, so we have been there getting her settled and visiting her.

In our homeschool this week… We really aren't doing anything this week, other than reading, because of our travels to Missouri for the 4th holiday and then recovering from our travels.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing… We are currently in Missouri at my parents' enjoying the 4th holiday. When we get home we are going to socialize with one of the pastors of our church and his family (his wife is Eli's reading resource teacher at school). We are also going to the movies with our Homeschool Co-op on Friday.

My favorite thing this week was… visiting my grandma at her new nursing home. It was great to see her so happy and vibrant after many years of not being.

What’s working/not working for us… It's been fun to do unscheduled learning, by taking something that just "comes along" and turning it into a lesson.

Questions/thoughts I have… If you have used Apologia Biology, would you suggest a microscope as a necessity?

Things I’m working on… more U.S. History!

Books I’m reading… Blue Like Play Dough by Tricia Goyer, The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller, Seasons of a Mother's Heart, by Sally Clarkson (reading with the moms in our Co-op Playgroup), More Faith in My Day by Emilie Barnes (my daily devotional).

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

My grandma after my sister did her hair at the hair salon in the nursing home.

School takes on many forms in the summer months. Hop on over to The Homeschool Chick to see what it looks like in other homes.

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Cells ~ It's What's for Dinner

Dawson made edible cells on Friday. He made an animal cell pizza ... and a plant cell chocolate chip cookie ... He reviewed what he's learned about cells the past two weeks, and I had dinner made by someone else. Win, win!! I am linking up at Science Sunday at Adventures in Mommydom.

ABCya

Eli's reading resource teacher shared a website with me yesterday that I would like to pass along. It's called ABCya . There are separate educational sections with fantastic games for ages kindergarten through 5th grade. I browsed the 2nd grade level, and it includes age-appropriate games about Letters, Numbers, Shapes, Geometry, Patterns, Mouse Manipulation, Art and Holiday games. There are lots and lots of fun and creative games for children to play. They are fun, but oh, so educational. Eli's favorite, in his short time playing it, was Create a Car . A lot of the games also have Apps available for purchase (99 cents for most of them) for the iPad and iPhone. I have been looking for another free website for games similar to Starfall , for some time. I think I have found it. I can feel confident having Eli and Brynne play these games.

How to Build a Homeschool U.S. History Curriculum from "America: The Story of Us"

FINAL UPDATE (JUNE 2012): We completed our entire U.S. History course last month using the America: The Story of Us video series and the resources I had planned. We officially covered Episodes 1-9 which got us through the 1920's. We plan to use the remaining three videos when we study the World Wars in a couple of years. I just want to go on record as saying that I believe whole-heartedly that the use of this series with my resources would more than qualify your child for a full credit of U.S. History. And, it was exciting and enriching. Feel free to follow all of my lesson plans. You can see them all at this link: http://journey2excellence.blogspot.com/search/label/America%3A%20The%20Story%20of%20Us Update: America: The Story of Us is now available as an InstaStream through Netflix! We also had it available at our local library. If you didn't receive a complimentary copy, you won't have to pay the $30 for it! Many of us received a complimentary copy of "...

Journey to Excellence

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