Snow has been a common theme here the last 2 weeks however it has been scattered out thankfully. Although we do not operate off the public school schedule it makes it hard know with foster son that does!
We are happy to wrap up our 8 week mini-mester and have our 2 week break! The kids have worked super hard this 8 weeks and I am proud of all they have accomplished and I believe all of us are looking forward to that break!
Zachary has been enjoying his Word Hunt book which is the 4th book in Dyslexia Games (The Thinking Tree). He is having to find and search for words to fill up his book! Some times they are 3 letter words but sometimes they are 4 and 5 letter words!
Hubby was home and we all wanted gravy one morning so I added a little treat with Choc gravy! I never eat it because I just don't like it but my kiddos sure do!
Nancy Larson Science we have moved onto Observing Rocks and Minerals now! We have had a lot of fun so far learning about how to classify rocks and their properties.
Again you can see through out our pictures for the last 2 weeks a lot of it is snow! We have enjoyed playing in it but I think we are all ready for the flowers to pop up out of the ground for Spring!
First review of 2015!! Can you believe it? I can't wait to show and explore new curriculum and publishers with you this year! So buckle up and let me take you on a quick trip.
Great Commission Films has produced a wonderful new documentary on the public school system and its history called IndoctriNation.
For this review I was sent a copy of the DVD. The DVD is 102 minutes long and retails for $19.95. They also offer a book and DVD/book combo.
When I got this review in the mail I alerted my husband that I had us a movie to watch. I was interested in this movie because I have heard about it buzzing around the homeschool community for the last several weeks leading up to our Crew getting the review opportunity. I explained to hubby what the point in the movie was and it peeked his curiosity too.
The movie starts with homeschool father of 7, Colin Gunn taking his family on this huge field trip to discover all these facts on the traditional yellow school bus!
During the movie there were several instances that hubby and I just looked at each other with a dropped mouth. The facts and history that is within this documentary is incredible. This was a huge history lesson on the school system and who initiated several large movements that transformed the school system all together into the system we have today.
Let me stop at this VERY MOMENT and say that I homeschool my children for personal reasons and faith based reasons. I also have many friends that send their children to the school system every day and teachers are my friends too but for my family this is our decision and after watching this it only pressed upon my husband and I why the choice we made 10 years ago is still a great choice.
Let me tell you some eye opening facts learned:
14 nations are ahead of the US in reading ability
1/3 of high school students drop out ( I was one of those!)
30 million adults over 18 can NOT read a simple sentence
The most disturbing facts presented within this was the way that public schools can present birth control and the liberty to educate about gay and lesbian issues to elementary children and the parent's aren't allowed to know or participate. Condoms where actually given at school wrapped and presented as lollipops, if the child asks for one the teachers or counselors are forced to give one and NOT alert the parent! 10% of children are actually targeted by school staff for sexual favors. I know that all people have to worry about sexual issues in our society however at school our children should be protected.
I guess the part of this movement the bothers me most is that children can't talk about Jesus or the Bible with in those same walls. I actually have personal experience with my oldest attending school for his kinder year for 3 weeks and while he was saying his prayer one day the teacher came over to him and patted his shoulder and said "stop that you don't have time you need to eat." Hence the reason he attended for 3 weeks and we homeschool.
Another huge issue in the public schools is drugs and alcohol. Studies show that 1/2 of all high school students do drugs or drink normally. Drugs are such an addiction and it is so sad that children are getting such an early start on something that will ruin their lives.
Then it came to even more topics that really hit home, see I have 2 boys and my boys are just that, typical boys, whom do not sit still well or learn by reading. Part of the documentary talked about this very issue with boys being in the majority of medicated students. This would be my 2 boys if they had attended public school in elementary! I have NO doubt.
This quote was so true from the film "Education isn't bad; Schooling is bad."
In the 1800's the literacy rate was 99% which leads me to wonder why aren't we still educating that way?
I highly recommend this movie for any family whether you homeschool or not.
I loved the way that the school bus was tied into every aspect of this movie! Great theme.
Hubby said" This was extremely interesting and very eye opening. Tons of facts shows public schools are just like colleges, all are against God. Great history lesson on the public school and how the people and doctrines changed it for the worse."
We are allowing my oldest son (14) to watch this as part of a school study himself!
Find IndoctriNation all around socially:
Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo and YouTube.
I found this recipe on Pinterest so I can not take credit for it however I will totally share it the way I made it because it was AWESOME!
I was searching for treats for our homeschool Valentine's/Skating Party and found this recipe that looked like the perfect treat to me.
Strawberries and I get along great. See I am not a chocolate person but can eat my weight just about in strawberries so this was perfect.
Your gonna need:
Strawberry cake mix
1/2 cup soft butter
2 eggs
1 pk Cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
Strawberries
You first mix the cake mix with butter and 1 egg, use a fork and it will be very crumbly. Once you have it mixed good just place it in the bottom of your pan. I used a rectangular cake pan.
Next mix the cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice and other egg together. Now you can pour this over the strawberry cake mix.
I baked at 350 for 20 minutes. I placed in refrigerator and allowed to cool over night. The next morning I sliced these into square bars and topped with sliced strawberries!
All of my babies loved it. We enjoyed it for breakfast and because I knew this would be an awesome treat I actually made 2 because I wanted one to keep and one to take with us to the homeschool party. Everyone loved it at the party and so this is a new recipe that I will totally keep and use again and again.
ENJOY!
The last two weeks have been a huge adjustment with a new member of our family and getting him used to the way we do things as well as just over all getting used to each other.
We are settled I believe and doing well.
The last 2 weeks here is a glimpse into our crazy homeschooling life while transitioning...
The boys have been moving right alone in Math U See. Kyle has had some trouble this week in Pre-Algebra but nothing that my awesome hubby couldn't help!
T loves puzzles!
Our spoiled fur baby being lazy on Lexi's bed her bed.
Zachary completed 2 things within the last 2 weeks and one is Explode The Code level 3! Next week we are starting All About Reading Level 2.
We completed 2 neat Valentine Art projects you can find them here!
Zachary also finished Brain Food Book 3 in just a week! Going on to book 4.
Thursday we had a homeschool skating/Valentine party and so the kiddos got all their Valentine's fixed to give out to their friends.
The homeschool Valentine's/skating party was a load of fun, my guys enjoyed it greatly.
I also made a delicious treat that we took, Strawberry Cream Bars. I will share the recipe next week here on the blog. YOU WILL NOT WANT TO MISS THAT!
After a very long, hard day my love surprised me with my favorite - Tulips. Speaking of tulips I am in a huge hurry to see if all the bulbs we planted come up this year. I had about 15 come up last Spring but since we planted almost 60 more bulbs! Can you tell I love love love them?
Also realized I am in desperate need of a new planner, so this weekend after work I hope to hit Staples and or Walmart in search of one. I can not afford some that was recommended so I am going to get one in my budget!
Happy Valentine's Day to all.
Be sure and share God's love with everyone you meet.
This was a wonderfully easy project!
We needed cardstock, pencils, black sharpie and crayons!
Take your paper and pencil and draw circles ( we drew 6 ).
Read these awesome directions and make some fun all for yourself.
Outline the pencil with black sharpie then color!
We loved how our roses turned out!
This was a super simple drawing art project for Valentine's Day!
You simply need cardstock and markers!
You start by drawing 3 different colored hearts.
They need to be large and facing different directions. I had to help at first but the kids caught on to what was needed.
Then you start by outlining each heart with zig zags.
We each picked different colors to make the colors pop around the hearts.
A simple 10 minute art project that is pretty neat.
Have fun!
