It’s been two weeks since our vacation, and I think we are finally finding our rhythm.

Since we finished our literature study last week, we decided to do some “pocket folder” adventures for the next couple of weeks.  The pocket folder we are working on is “Non Fiction” by Evan Moor.  While I am enjoying this topic with the boys, it is somewhat outdated, as most libraries are now computerized.  There was one pocket activity that required the boys to create a catalog card.  It was fun for them to learn about how things used to be at the library, and we all agree that having the books online makes it much easier to find books.

Here are some pictures of our Reading this week:

I was able to drag out the overhead projector for the first time!  We learned how to fill our a catalog card.  While this is a “lost art”, I still wanted the boys to know that things weren’t always as easy as they are today.

The next pocket has us learning about “People”.  We started the pocket off with choosing a biography of a “hero”.  Cam chose, “Who Was Sacagawea?”, and Ty chose, “Who Was George Washington?”  More on those to come next week.

In Science this week, we learned about the differences between insects and spiders.  We also had a quiz and a chapter test.  Both of the boys got an ‘A’ on their quizzes, and a 100 on their test!  Here are some pictures of them taking the quiz, and doing a science activity:

We are finally traveling West in Heritage Studies, and Cam couldn’t be more thrilled.  He is DYING to do one of the activities I have planned for when we get to the ‘Gold Rush’ part of our history.  LOL  I ordered two of these kits from Home Science Tools, and the boys are really excited to get into them.  But before we get to California, we have to learn about the land between the Great Forest and the Pacific Ocean.

We had an interesting Spelling lesson this week that involved food.  Ty had to write out the recipe for snack mix, then we decided to make some!

We also went to our weekly Homeschool Skate.  We are now at the skating rink four days a week!  What in the world was I thinking?!

Next week is October…I plan to begin teaching the boys about the election process….and I’ll try not to be biased.  LOL  This is the kit we are using:  40pc. Voting Kit.  We going to vote for chocolate chip cookies or peanut butter cookies.  I’ll let you know the results in a few weeks.

That’s all for this week! 

We finished up our literature study of The Treasure of Pelican Cove.  The boys seemed to really enjoy the story, and what’s not to like?  It has adventure, mystery, a hurricane, a dog, and a treasure hunt!!  At the beginning of our lessons, I hid a “treasure” in a clay ball, and gave a clue as to what it could be every few days.  In the end, they weren’t able to guess, but they had a lot of fun trying to figure it out.

Since the characters in the book were enjoying banana walnut bread, we decided to enjoy some as well!

In English, both boys were able to revise, edit, and publish their writings.  Cam was focused on writing a personal narrative, and Ty was learning about time words (first, second, then, etc).  Cam ended up with a 3-page narrative detailing his experience at Disney World a couple of weeks ago.  Ty wrote about how to play the game “Battleship”.

Scott tells me that math is going well, and by the look of the grades on their tests, I’d say they’re all doing a great job (the boys AND the teacher!).

Science, our favorite subject, consumes a good chunk of our day each day.  This week was no exception.  We’re learning about insects, and in preparing for this chapter, I purchased the Insect Collector’s Backpack Kit from Home Science Tools.  I knew the boys would love using them, but what I didn’t count on was how often they use them.  One of our lessons suggested making our own insect collection, so I sent the boys out in the backyard to see what they could find.  The first day they found a few insects, but over the next few days, they really went nuts with it.  Here are some pictures of the “hunt” and their collection:

We also looked at a wasp slide under the microscope, to see if we could see the parts of an insect.

Homeschool Skate was held on Tuesday morning.  The boys were thrilled to see one of their hockey friends there.  When the hour was up, they both said they wanted to come back every week….good thing too – I had already signed them up!

Thursday was our “big” field trip (“big” = longer than an hour) to the Fort Myers Sheriff’s Department.  We got to see some of our old friends, and make some new friends!

First up was “Axel”, the K9 cop (and his handler, of course)! Cam was dying to pet Axel!

After that, we were taken into the communications area.  This is where they receive 911 calls, and route officers to the various scenes.  They told us the car accidents are the most common 911 call they receive.  Unfortunately, we were told that we were not allowed to take photos inside the communications area.  However, I took plenty of the kids in the hallway, outside of the communications area!

We wrapped up the tour by looking at the ‘Fallen Heroes” wall, and the “Most Wanted” wall.

On Friday, we wrapped up our lessons for the week, and headed off to our first hockey practice of the season.  Both boys were placed on the ‘Ducks’ this season.  Hopefully our team will do better this season than they did this summer. 

Before I sign off, here are some pictures of the butterflies we hatched, and Beezer, our Panther Chameleon:

DAY 1: Operation “World Showcase Tour”

In an effort to make the World Showcase at Epcot more enjoyable for the boys, we purchased Epcot passports, and played the Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure game along the way.  What I didn’t expect, was for Scott and I to enjoy playing as much as the boys did.  We played in Mexico and Norway (Norway is when our phone died).

Off to Norway…

And when you have a nose that big hanging over your head, who can resist trying to pick it?

Next up:  China!

I know Americans have this love/hate relationship with China right now, but this presentation was stunning.  The boys indulged me by watching the 15-minute movie about China, and surprisingly, they both really liked it a lot!  When I asked them later that day which country was their favorite, they both said China and Japan.

Germany and Italy were next, but we didn’t stay very long in these countries.  The one distinguishing thing about Italy was the perfume.  It hung in their little shop so thick that I actually started to feel sick to my stomach.  The smell lingered for a while too.

As we were escaping Italy, the American Colonial Band began marching up the “street”, so we stopped for a while and listened to patriotic songs being played.  Because we were hungry, we decided America would be the place where we would eat lunch (there was just no way we were going to be able to hold out until England’s Fish and Chips!).

Here’s the problem with eating lunch at the half-way point:  you get tired.  Japan was next up for us, and we spent the majority of our time browsing in the enormous gift shop.  I mean…Pokemon, anime, and ninja stuff.  It was a little boys dream store.  The ladies who were stamping passports in Japan were probably the nicest, friendliest ladies we had met.  They really spent some time with the boys teaching them all kinds of cool things (saying their name in Japanese, and laughing with them).

We searched out the Kidcot center in Morocco…but that was basically it.

Cam and I were the only ones excited to see France.  Unfortunately, they had the same perfume “claim to fame” as Italy, and none of us could stomach it for long.  Heat, humidity, the smell of humanity, and perfume.  *gag*

Whenever we go to Epcot, we ALWAYS hang out in England (hello?????  Flake bars and fish and chips!!), so we were pretty familiar with England.  We didn’t stay very long in England this time.  We were running out of steam.

By the time we hit Canada, we were just done.  We had spent 6 hours touring the world showcase, and everyone was complaining of heat and feet.  So we did a quick run-through (again, being very familiar with this part of the park, we didn’t see anything new).

Then it was back to the resort for some down time before we headed back to the parks for Night of Joy.

We went to Night of Joy for ONE band:  Thousand Foot Krutch.  Scott had been wanting to see this band for a decade, and they NEVER came to Florida.  So we braved the crowds, and watched Thousand Foot Krutch in concert.  It was awesome.  Scott was thrilled.  I’m so glad we made the decision to see them. 

DAY 2:  ANIMAL KINGDOM

The following day, we decided on Animal Kingdom.  Because it ALWAYS rains when we go to Disney, we weren’t surprised to see the forecast called for rain all day.  One of these days we’re going to invest in some nice rain gear so we won’t have to buy the cheap ponchos.  One of these days….

Since Cam was the only one who braved Everest, I thought it would be cool to take a picture of him standing in front of it.  He loved it so much he rode it twice!

DAY 3:  PIRATE ADVENTURE & EPCOT

I had signed the boys up for the Pirate Adventure that departs from the Grand Floridian.  We’ve done this before with the boys, but they were too young to remember it, so it was like going on the adventure for the first time for them.  Because it’s considered “off season”, there was only one other child on the adventure with them.  They had an amazing time!    Apparently, Randy (the First Mate), was a hysterical dude.  Cam wrote about how funny he was in one of his English papers this week.

While the boys were on their adventure, Scott and I went for coffee, then we stopped at the Grand Floridian gift shop to pick up some mementos for the boys.

Camden really took to the journal.  He wrote his thoughts down almost every night!

After the Pirate Adventure, we hopped on the monorail and went to Epcot.  Our plan was to stay in the front of the park and ride the rides until dinner time.  We ate dinner at the Garden Grill.  The food was ‘good’, but I felt the price was way too high.  We probably won’t eat there again.  The boys enjoyed that the restaurant rotated, however, I fear our days of character dining are numbered.  They both think it’s kind of silly now.    Here are the shots we took at dinner:

DAY 4:  MAGIC KINGDOM

Every single time we enter Magic Kingdom on Main Street, it takes you back to being a kid.  I don’t know how they do it.  I really don’t.  It never fails though…as soon as I see that castle at the end of the road, I am giddy with anticipation.  I know that no matter what, no matter how long the lines are, it’s going to be awesome.

On the day that we went, the crowds were pretty small (for Disney).  I don’t think we waited more than 5 minutes to get on any ride.  The first ride the boys rode was Space Mountain.  Since I don’t “do” rollercoasters, I opted to wait for them.  As I was waiting, Stitch decided to make an appearance.  Like I said, the crowds were small, so he hung out with me for a few minutes.

After Space Mountain, the boys wanted to go on the Astro Orbiter (those rockets).  It was us, and one other family waiting to go on the ride.  That other family turned out to be future Hall of Fame Goaltender Martin Brodeur!  I wanted so badly to take a picture, but he was with his family, so I decided to leave him alone.  It was a decision I will regret…but I think I did the right thing.

Up next was “Rollercoasterpalooza”!!  The boys tackled Splash Mountain, followed by “Big Thunder Railroad”.

At the Monsters, Inc. Comedy Club, our entire family participated in the show.  It was hysterical.  I don’t think I laughed that hard during the entire trip!  They had Scott dancing, and Scott, never to shy away from a camera, gave them a fantastic show.  The camera zoomed in on me and boys at one point, and we had to use our fingers to create antenna.  Then, they read jokes that people had texted in prior to the show, and Cam’s joke was picked!  “Why did the kid cross the playground?  To get to the other slide!”

I think we wrapped up Magic Kingdom in about 4 hours that day!

DAY 5:  HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

Next to Epcot, Hollywood Studios is our favorite park.  We ARE a family of nerds, after all!  The first thing we did was to get there right at rope drop, and bolt to the Jedi Training sign-up.  As I stood in line with the boys, Scott ran to Toy Story Mania and ‘fast passed’ our tickets for that ride.  Good thing too, because at rope drop, there was already a 30 minute wait for that ride!  After we signed the boys up, we went straight to Star Tours.  Turns out, Ty is a Rebel Spy!!  They flashed his picture up on the screen, and Darth Vader was doing everything he could to get us!

Here are some shots throughout our day:

Here are a few shots of the Jedi Training Academy (which both boys LOVED):

We wrapped up our day at Hollywood Studios with dinner at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater.  The food there was amazing.  It was reasonably priced too!  And the movies were hysterical.  We loved it.

DAY 6:  TIME TO GO HOME

Scott and I have this tradition.  We always hit up the Krispy Kreme Donut Shop on our way out of town, and this time was no exception.  Thank God we don’t have one of these where we live…I’d never be able to fit in the car!  The ironic part about this, is that we noticed (for the first time) the name of the street this donut shop is located on:

The sign has an arrow and everything!  Scott’s name really is written on those donuts!

We spent the remainder of our vacation unpacking, unwinding, and realizing that we’re not as young as we used to be. 

We are counting down the days for our next trip (not a vacation, just a trip) to Legoland!

Last week the boys learned more about the U.S. Constitution, the Continental Congress, and the French Revolution.  Despite my best attempts to make the Continental Congress interesting, they were far more fascinated by the French Revolution.  The idea of storming the Bastille, and guillotines in general, created a lot of interest.  Here is our replication of the Bastille:

We saved EIGHT Pringles cans to achieve this!

In English, both of the boys are reviewing material from previous years:  Sentences, Fragments, Capitalization, Punctuation, Nouns, and Verbs.  After vacation, Ty will be learning how to write directions, and Cam will begin writing a personal narrative.

In Spelling last week, both boys received a B on their tests.  While I wasn’t too disappointed, my little perfectionists found it unacceptable.  They both requested “Spelling Scrabble” to help them remember the spelling words.  So we’ll add that back into our Spelling program after vacation and see how they do.

In Math, Scott continues to go over topics they learned from previous years.  I think all three of them are ready to jump into some more “meaty” math concepts, but it’s Scott’s class, and I’m letting him run it how he sees fit.  One of our math “classes” consisted of a game of Monopoly.  Ty lost interest after the first hour.  Cam went bankrupt 30 minutes after Ty left the game, and Scott and I continued to play for another hour after that.  Scott, much to my horror, beat me soundly.  I see a rematch in our near future.

On to something more pleasant…

Science!  We love science in this house.  First up, was learning about animal tracks.  While this wasn’t in the lesson plans, I decided to let the boys make their own tracks after the lesson was done.  It was a lot of fun!

Who knew that tempera paint doesn’t wash out of concrete?

What’s the best part of painting with your feet?  Washing them off, of course!

To kick off our chapter of ‘Insects and Spiders’, we watch a DVD from Bill Nye the Science Guy!

Our Science Tray this chapter is full of interesting insect specimens, including caterpillars for our Butterfly House!

An update on the caterpillars to follow.

The following lesson, we dissected a grasshopper:

After having the caterpillars for 3 days, here is what they look like now:

I’m thinking of taking them with us over our vacation.  I didn’t expect them to transform so quickly!

In Bible, we have been learning about Moses, the Israelites wandering in the wilderness, and how it applies to our lives today.  Here is a ‘Brass Pole’ the boys made (Moses’ pole):

In Reading, we’re going to try the BookLinks/Literature Unit Studies for a while.  We’re starting with ‘The Treasure of Pelican Cove’.  So far, it’s already working better than our other Reading program.  How do I know?  Because the boys are ASKING to keep reading to find out what happens next!  THAT is what I want from a Reading program. 

Here is a sand-art pencil tin we made (to go along with the beach theme in our story):

Since I have to start packing for our trip today (Thursday), I decided to let the boys pick an audio book to start reading.  Cam is currently reading and listening to “The Castle in the Attic”, and Ty picked, “The Incredible Journey”.  I’m going to take these books with us on vacation so that they can read/listen to the story on the ride up.

So that’s all for now.  I’ll bore you with vacation pictures in about 10 days. 

I posted about an idea I had to replace our “formal’ reading lessons with literature unit studies  on a homeschool board I read.  While I didn’t get many replies, one of the posters asked me what my goal was with reading.  It was like a light switched on for me.  My goal for reading is to instill a love of books in my boys.  I want them to reach for a book and get lost in it.  I want it to be FUN!  So….I bought a few literature studies:

Charlotte’s Web and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.

I also have several of BJU’s booklinks.

And because I tend to go overboard, I also bought some of Evan-Moor’s fantastic literature study guides as well.

I’m going to give this a try.  What’s the worst that could happen?   If they enjoy what they’re reading, they’re more likely to retain it, learn more vocabulary, and comprehend the story.  The study guides will allow us to analyze the literature, do some ‘hands on’ stuff, and hopefully…hopefully, it will instill a love for reading.

Ok.  On to our week.

On Monday, I had to take Cam back to the doctor for a follow up on his bronchitis.  Turns out, he had pneumonia.  So he had a second prescription to add to his amoxicillin.  By the third day, he was good as new.  However, because I knew we would spend a good portion of our morning in the doctor’s office, I had Scott take Ty with him to work, and I allowed both boys to pick out a “free” book to read until we could start school.  Ty chose ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox‘, by Roald Dahl.  Cam chose ‘How to Eat Fried Worms‘, by Thomas Rockwell.  They both agreed on one thing; the books were better than the movies. 

This is what I like to see:

We had two science experiments this week.  Unfortunately, I only took pictures of one of those.  It was similar to the experiment we did last week.  We had to determine which tools (bird beaks) worked best in gathering food.  Here are some pictures of that:

While Science is what we really love to do, we did manage to learn some other things along the way this week.    We played “Spelling List Scrabble”.  Basically, we try to spell out our spelling list words on the board.

Sorry some of these pictures are so blurry…still trying to get the hang of this camera.

We had a little down time this week, and I let the boys do something they haven’t done in a LONG time….FINGERPAINT!

Ty’s is a painting of a Lego Ninjago scene.

Cam has just started a “gold” coin collection, so he painted what he hoped his collection would look like one day.

I also let Cam use our oil pastels this week.  I remember LOVING oil pastels when I was a girl, and it appears Cam loves them too.  He created a picture to go on the front of his Lego Ninjago card collection notebook:

On one of our Skill Station days in Reading, we were learning about how to read a map.  Specifically, how to read a scale and key on a map.  Here are the maps the boys made:

One of Cam’s writing assignments this week was to write about a chore that he likes to help out with.  I sent him off to the dining room to complete this assignment.  When he completed the assignment and gave it to me, I thought it was such a sweet essay.

In Heritage Studies this week, we learned about King Louis XVI.  So we kicked off the lesson with some “French” cuisine!

We wrapped up Science this week by learning how to research a topic.  The topic was “Endangered Animals”.  The boys had to choose an animal on the endangered list, research it, then make a poster.  Ty chose the Gray Bat, and Cam chose the Panda Bear.

So, all in all, a successful week.  We’re taking Monday off since public school is off for the tropical storm….and I need to get caught up on laundry.    See you all next week!

What better way to start the year, than with a brand new backpack and school supplies?

Ty realizing that there are “things” in his backpack.

Cam reading what the ID on his lanyard says.

Digging through the backpack.

I bought the boys three “homeschooling” t-shirts this year, and put those in their backpacks as well.  The shirts they are wearing below say, “Homeschooler by day, Ninja by night”.

Here is our “First Day of School” pose:

First day of school. 2012-2013

Then it was time for another annual tradition:  The First Day of School Breakfast!

Breakfast at IHOP!

Unfortunately, because Cam had a cough that wouldn’t go away, we had to make a stop at the doctor’s office before digging into our lessons.  Bronchitis.  You know you have pretty healthy kids when the child asks, “what does that pink stuff taste like?”  and when you give him cough medicine he refers to it as “that medicine that tastes like death”.  LOL

Lessons this year breakdown like this:

Cam (4th Grade):

Bible 4

Heritage Studies 3/4

Science 4

Reading 4

Math 4

English 4

Spelling 4

Handwriting 3/4

Ty (3rd Grade):

Bible 4

Heritage Studies 3/4

Science 4

Reading 4

Math 3

English 3

Spelling 3

Handwriting 3/4

When we completed our first day, UPS brought us another surprise:  the Home Science Tools order I had been waiting on!

One of the surprised this year was a Backyard Insect Collector’s Kit.  They were a HUGE hit!  We can’t wait to incorporate them into our Science chapter on Insects!

Some random shots during lessons:

Learning the Preamble to the US Constitution:

And probably the BEST surprise of the year is our NEW Math teacher!!

The boys both did very well this week.  They are enjoying their lessons so far, and we’re happy to be learning as a family this year, instead of the video lessons!

See you next week!

Ty has always towered over kids his own age, so it seemed like a good fit to bump him up a level (with Cam) when Cam moved up to the Squirt level.  Ty did JUST FINE with those older kids.  He held his own, learned more about the game, and improved each week.

This is our third “season” on the Squirt level, and something has just “clicked” for Ty.  Two weeks ago he scored his first goal on the Squirt level.  Last week, he won the game-winning goal.  This week?  Well….I’ll just let you watch:

We opted to go for a teal/lime/orange theme.  It’s bright.  It’s cheerful.  It’s calming as well.

Here are some pictures (taken with my iPhone…not the best quality):

Our favorite part of the room - The Science Shelf

Our Science Bookshelf

Our Science DVDs

This next picture is of our “Science Tray”.  For each unit in Science, I will place relevant items for the boys to look at and study.  Our first unit is on “living things”, and they will study plants (among things).

The "Science Tray"

One of the boys’ first assignments will be to name our skeleton (real X-rays of human bones):

A shot of the to-be-named skeleton

If you look slightly to the right, you will find our learning area (read:  desks).

Where the boys will learn...hopefully!

90% of our classroom is supplied by Ikea.  What a wonderful, amazing, crazy store.  Ikea…how I love thee!  The large bookcase contains:  Teacher Manuals, Student text books, Student workbooks, “fun” books to read, our Audio Reading Center, the Treasure Box, games, and supplies.

The hub of our classroom action.

I found these (cheap) containers from Oriental Trading:

A place for everything!

I decided to encourage the boys to read by getting these audio books.  I ripped the CD to an MP3 format, loaded up each of their MP3 players with the books, and substituted those awful ear-bud headphones with something a little more comfortable.

Audio Book Reading 'Center'

Here is our History Center

Ancient Studies and Activities

US History books and activities

Native Americans and Founding Fathers

A quick word about those posters; I can’t recall the online company I purchased these from, but they were super cheap (like $6/each?).  I took the posters to Staples and had them mounted on foam board and laminated.  They turned out fantastic!

Chore Chart

That’s all for now.  More to come as we near our First Day of School (August 13th!).

The following photo montage is a glimpse into the “fun” stuff we did this year:

SOTW_Lesson Plans   PDF

SOTW_Lesson Plans  Word Document